Hiking the Blue Mountains

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Trip Start Oct 19, 2007 Previous
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  Katoomba, Australia
Friday, October 26, 2007

After checking into our hostel the Flying Fox at Katoomba, we went off to wander the townsite and do a short tour.  Unfortunately, the weather was not cooperating and we were not able to see anything of the Blue Mountains for the first 2 days in the area.  We made a valiant attempt, but the cloud cover was quick thick and we were literally walking through the clouds.
Our last day & a half though we had fabulous weather.  Our first good weather day we left the hostel early in the day to do a SHORT hike to Wentworth Falls .  We had to catch the train to Wentforth Falls (a small community just south of Katoomba).  Once there, we got directions from a friendly couple in a second hand book shop who directed us to take the Charles Darwin walk to the falls.  This was a shortcut and a very beautiful hike.  Along the way we saw a number of small birds and heard even more!  We did not get close to any of the more colourful and interesting birds, but at least we saw a couple.  Along the way we saw 3 different lizards and were able to get photos of 2 of them.  Now, when we get home, Steve's job will be to identify these new friends!  Once we reached the top of the falls ... we only got a view of the rainforest ... not really of the falls.  There was a sign that directed us towards the falls and so off we went (no map in hand).  We would get little "teaser" views of the falls, so we just kept going down ... and down, and down.  The rock stairs down were not fun, my legs shook the entire way down.  When we finally reached the bottom - what a view!   To look up and see these majestic falls was truly impressive.  Now, decision time.  The "hiker" instinct in both of us said that the trail we were on must curve around and back to where we went somehow, someway.  So we followed it along, and along, and along.  There were no signs and needless to say I started to get nervous.  As can be imagined we reached a point in time where we decided we would walk until noon and if we did not meet up with anyone who would be able to tell us where we were or how to get out, then back the way we came we would go - the thought of those stairs going up was enough to keep me positive we would meet someone.  Luckily enough, we stumbled upon a very friendly older Aussie couple who informed us that about 10 minutes (actually, it ended up being closer to 20 min.) was the "Conservation hut" where we would be able to stop for a tea and snack and get directions back to the train station.  This was very reassuring to me ... Steve, the cocky hiker that he is, identified that he knew the trail would end up somewhere logical.  Up to the hut we went and since it was now 1 pm and we had only a couple of granola bars and bananas with us we decided to splurge on lunch!  Good thing we did because shortly after we finished, down came the rain and hail.  We sat it out for a good hour and then decided that we should best get going.  From the staff in the hut we got directions back to the townsite of Wentworth Falls in a light rain.  As we hit our first juncture in the road, up came a public bus that was headed for Katoomba.  Since we were already wet, the cost did not deter us from hopping the bus to Katoomba!  We arrived back at our hostel 15 minutes later a whole lot drier than if we had continued our walk to the train station.
We dropped off a few things and then off on another walking adventure.  Since we had not yet seen any views from Katoomba, back to Echo Point we went where we finally saw the Three Sisters ... a very spectacular view!  Steve had already plotted out a hike for us, which started with going down the Giant Stairs (900 stairs to be exact).  I thought the stairs down to Wentworth falls were bad ... those were nothing compared to the Giant Steps.  These ones were treacherous at best and I was very thankful to get to the bottom of the forest floor.  We trekked through Leura Forest, up to Fern Bower and finally out of the forest ... another long set of stairs up (these were a little easier on the mentality of the brain) and we reached the top of the road.  Along the way we did not see much for wildlife but a pheasant type bird did dive bomb Steve.  At the end of all this stair master of a hike - I required a reward - so off to the liquor store for an economical bottle of wine we were told about the evening before.  As luck would have it, the hostel owner (Ross) showed up at the store, got us an extra discount on our bottle of wine and gave us a ride back to the hostel.  The rest of the evening was spent relaxing by one of the fires, a hot shower and a warm bed.  A well deserved break from the hiking of today ... if only there had been a hot tub - not too likely in Australia . 
For our last day in Katoomba, we decided to do a short hike before catching the train back to Sydney for our flight to Hobart , Tasmania .  The one we choose was the Cliff Walk, which also gave us some more great views of the Blue Mountains .  It was a nice easy walk that allowed us to enjoy the warm weather that can occur in the Blue Mountains . 

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On our way down to Wentworth Falls	Steve - getting closer to a Rotary Meeting	Steve at a Rotary display	Steve at Katoomba Cascades
Three sisters at Echo Point, Katoomba	Wentforth Falls

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