Blue Mountain Hiking

My study abroad program sponsored an "adventure weekend" trip this past weekend in the Blue Mountains. We arrived right before dinner on Friday night and met up with 4 other uni's this study abroad program coordinates in the Sydney area. On the menu for dinner? Lasagna. Luckily I didn't mind because this was REAL lasagna with delicious garlic bread. In fact, the food all weekend was absolutely delicious. I even got tacos! After dinner we watched an Australian movie starring Aussie's own Heath Ledger. Poor guy. The rain did not stop all night which forced our morning activity of rock climbing to be moved to an indoor climbing gym. It was not quite the same experience since you can go to an indoor climbing gym anywhere, but since I had never even done that it was at least a new experience for me. Still, I had heard the abseiling/repelling was one of the thrilling parts of the weekend so I was a little disappointed. The afternoon more than made up for it, though. We loaded on our rain gear (thanks Mom for making me bring some!) for a 6 mile hike through the "Grand Canyon" of Australia. The hike was absolutely AMAZING. Since it had poured for almost 2 straight days, the water was rushing off the cliffs all around us. I have never seen so many waterfalls. The hike also included hopping rocks to cross creeks and in some cases even trudging through them. It concluded with a strenuous climb of roughly 200 stairs formed from rocks.

We woke up bright and early the next morning for one final tour of the Blue Mountains. This day was a little more of a traditional tourist visit, hiking to various lookouts for panoramic views of the entire mountain range and more waterfalls. We went on a ledge walk to get a close up view of the 3 Sisters, a famous mythological story here about 3 beautiful Aboriginal sisters turned to stone by a witch doctor and waiting to be returned to human form. We also took a breathtaking cable ride down the mountain. The scenery was truly majestic and I feel very blessed to have been able to spend the weekend hiking through such a beautiful and tranquil area.