A trip to the Blue Mountains

After searching and interviewing and doing more searching for a job for a few weeks I was lagging behind on any adventures. (the reason I came here!!) I have been hearing how amazing the Blue Mountains are, and Tom had told me about the Happy Coach tour which is an all day tour for around 60 dollars to see the most recognized sights up there. I convinced my roommate Mark to come with me, at a 7:20 am start to the day. This little van called ‘The Happy Coach’ picked us up in front of the YHA central hostel, and our first stop was the Sydney Olympic Park from the 2000 Olympics.

   The Olympic park was full of stadiums built upon a marsh land. It’s still used today for sporting events and for teams to practice in. It was a quick stop, and I was eager to hit the Blue Mountains, in the hopes that the clouds would pass over by the time we got there. We reached a small town at the foot of the blue mountains where we could go to the bakery etc, and where our trip leader advised us to buy some ponchos because it looked like the rain might not pass after all and we had about a 2 hour hike ahead of us. Ponchos were ridiculously expensive, so we opted to buy garbage bags and simply make our own ponchos out of them. Very classy.

Our first stop was to see Kangaroos! I was so excited because until this point I haven't had the chance to encounter a real wild one. And just our luck there was a pack of them in the field ahead from where we parked. SO amazing. And if you have ever heard of them boxing it’s because they fight over who can win over the ladies. Sounds a lot like humans. Always fighting over girls. I got to see one hopping in action too! this was probably my favorite part of the trip. In the same area our guide pulled down a branch and told us to pick off a leaf, the he said to roll it up and break it in half, and then proceed to stick each half up our nose. It was eucalyptus leaves. They are used for a lot of holistic treatments but it can mainly clear up your nose if you have a cold. Looked silly, but it smelled really good.

 

When we reached the spot to start our hike the viewing points were basically not viewable. The visibility because of the clouds was just white. Our leader said where we were standing looking out he usually hears ohhhs and ahhhs. And a lot of us were saying what?! The hike was damp, yet enjoyable. Hit a few caves on the way where the group stopped to get a historical lesson and to smell some tea-tree oil, from the real leaves which are abundant in the blue mountains.

Lunch was supposed to be by the 3 sisters, which are these rock formations that have an aboriginal story behind them. It’s a long story in short it deals with an aboriginal witch doctor his three daughters and a troll, and the sisters getting turned into stone which created ‘the three sisters’. But again the visibility was terrible, so you couldn’t see the sisters at all. Kind of disappointing.

 

Our last hike was down to the base of the Blue Mountains where we would then proceed to take ‘the steepest railway’ car back up to the base. Saw bits of the three sisters where the wind had finally blew away some of the clouds. Took the railway car back up, quite like going backwards on a rollercoaster. Then made it back to the van where it was about a 2.5 hour ride back into the city. Everyone fell asleep on this ride home. I enjoyed the time out of the city, again kind of disappointed the visibility was so bad, but I think I’ll rent a car the next time and head a little further to these caves that you can go into and explore. And no the mountains are unfortunately not BLUE, they are actually given that name because the eucalyptus trees on a humid day can give off a blue haze.

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