Hey everyone

Today was Blue Mountains day!

With the job hunting blues no longer getting us down, we got ready to have an amazing last day in Sydney. Before leaving, we had to change rooms a final time, and as the Mardi Gras festival was approaching, the hostel had almost run out of rooms so we had to be in separate dorms. Christina was in the girls only dorm, and wasn't happy that it smelt like feet. Alex was very confused that there were a couple of spare beds in his dorm - why Christina couldn't have gone in the same dorm, we have no idea. What was equally annoying was that we spotted a double room and a triple room that were both empty! Maybe they were getting us back for having the nice four bed en suite room to ourselves for just $25 a night each (cheaper than even the six bed dorm normally is). So we weren't impressed.

But we made our lunch then went to the train station, as we had decided to tackle the blue mountains on our own. There are lots of bus tours that go there, but we thought it would save money and be an adventure to go with just a map (and our walking shoes ready for a long day). Our tickets cost about £8 each, and we boarded a crazy double-decker train for the 2 hour journey. The train ride was COLD. The air conditioning pumped cold air out constantly, but the amazing views went some way towards making up for it.

We arrived in Katoomba, stretched our legs, then set off on a very long walk. Our first stop was Katoomba Falls, but just as we were making our way down the path we heard a scream and some gasps from ahead of us. We rushed to see what had happened, and found an old lady lying face down on the steps, with some people around her. A man was seeing where she was hurt as she couldn't move, whilst a woman had her phone out to call the emergency services, but panicking as she didn't know the number to ring. Christina saved the day by telling her the phone number and the correct location as the woman had no idea where we were. Alex then went up to the road and stood on the corner to direct the ambulance when it arrived.

A few minutes went by and we spotted an air ambulance flying overhead, and we discovered later that they thought we were further down valley and it was in fact sent for the old lady. By the time the ambulance arrived, a man had moved the old lady to a bench beside the road. She wasn't too badly injured, as she had just hurt her knee and cut her head open, but it was still all very dramatic. When the ambulance arrived Alex waved it into the road and told the driver where to go. We then carried on down the path we had started walking down half an hour ago, with Christina making sure we were being ESPECIALLY careful.

We saw the Katoomba Cascades, and followed the creek round as it turned into a waterfall. We then got to a lookout point, with an incredible view over Blue Mountains. We could see the forest for miles, with mountains populating the horizon. We could also see the cable car, which went from one cliff edge to another, 300m above the forest floor. Unsurprisingly, once Christina learnt about the floor which goes transparent at the touch of a button, she 'wasn't very keen' and we decided to give the cable car a miss.

We continued our walk, following a path along the top of a huge cliff above the forest, taking in the amazing views at every lookout point. We eventually made it to Echo Point, where there's a shop and information centre, and we had our lunch whilst giving our feet a much needed rest. We had a great view of the Three Sisters, a famous landmark with aboriginal significance. We followed the path towards the Three Sisters, and went down the first 50 steps of the Giant's Staircase, a 1000 step path down to the forest floor. The steps were really steep but led to a bridge across to the first 'sister' (a photo would help at this point). After a good look around and a few photos, it was time to head back to the train station to go back to Sydney. On our way back to the station, we noticed how the houses were all one-storey wooden buildings, and the roads were really wide. Christina thought she was walking down Ramsay Street.

At the station we had a long wait for the train, but when it eventually arrived fortunately it was slightly warmer than the train earlier. A couple of hours later, back at the hostel, we were shattered. We made it through a bowl of ice cream, but not through a whole film.

It had been Alex's favourite day in Australia so far, and an impressive way to end our stay in Sydney. Tomorrow we go north up the coast, to Newcastle... Xxx