Blue Mountains Trip

Last week was cold and raining non-stop so Sterling and I were not so excited about the trip to the Blue Mountains anymore; however, we ended up having a blast! We both had our first experience staying in a hostel. It took about two and a half hours to get there and when we arrived we got settled in our rooms (our room had 12 people in it) then we had pizza in the lounge area and got to know everyone. I do not think there could have been a more awesome group of people. We were all international students from either the US, Canada, Mexico, England, Norway, or Switzerland. I expected everyone to stay with people from their own countries for the most part because people usually stick to what they know, but everyone seemed to mesh and truly make an effort to get to know everyone on the trip and it was awesome. 

Part of our room in the hostle 

The next morning we got up, ate breakfast in the hostel, and then headed to the Mountain where we would be abseiling. It was drizzling when we left and quite foggy so it was difficult to see the beautiful scenery at first, but it ended up clearing up and being a nice day. Abseiling was scary at first but a lot of fun! The scariest part was taking the first couple of steps over the edge of the cliff and then it wasn't so bad from there. The first cliff was for learning the technique and was only 5 meters high. I think it was actually the hardest because it wasn't exactly vertical-- it had a little bit of an outward curve to it. It seems as though it would be easier that way but you are supposed to walk down the cliff with your legs straight and perpendicular to the rocks. It was hard not to bend them and let them get too far below your hips on the first cliff. Also, the cliff was a little bit slippery because since it wasn't quite vertical, the water wasn't able to run off as well. I actually slipped and lost my footing on my very first try because it was wet any I led my feet get too low but everything was fine and I kept going! It actually made me feel more confident because I knew what would happen if I were to lose my footing on the higher cliffs. If the rope is pulled tightly, you cannot move, so when that happened, the guys at the top and bottom of the cliff pulled the rope tightly and I just stayed right where I was. When I got my feet in position, I was able to keep feeding the rope through and continue down the cliff. The next cliff was higher, but easier in my opinion. It was 15 meters high with a free fall at the end. Sterling got all fancy on this one and went side to side and tried some jumps. The final cliff was 30 meters high and pretty scary at first. Maybe I shouldn't have looked down right before I jumped... Anyways, it was amazing once I got over that initial fear of going over the ledge. There was a big free fall at the bottom where you just sit in your harness and lower yourself on the rope and you slowly spin down and are able to see the mountains and valley. It was incredible!

First jump!!

Attractive gear

Sterling free falling the last bit of the 3rd cliff

After everyone had finished, we hiked back to the bus and went into town for lunch. Later, we went sight seeing. Our first stop was to see the Three Sisters. They are a sacred rock formation to the Aboriginal people. There are many legends as to how they got there. Here is one of them if you are interested. We saw them from the overlook and then we got to hike down the mountain a little ways to actually be able to touch one of them. An Aboriginal man was actually visiting the formation and took our group's picture there. In the evening, we went out to dinner as a group and got to know each other even more.

The Three Sisters

The Four Sisters (haha) @ Echo Point

The AWESOME group next to one of the sisters

Sunday morning, we packed our things, ate brekkie, then headed out to hike down the side of the mountain. We saw spectacular views such as the Katoomba waterfall and the gorgeous valley which was filled with fog. We then rode the steepest railway in the world back up the mountain. Finally, we jumped on the bus for the last leg of our trip. We drove a couple of yours to Featherdale Wildlife Park where we got to see tons of Australian animals, most of which we were allowed to pet. I fed a kangaroo and we got to pet Koalas. They are so soft and cute! The Tazmanian devil was really funny. It just sprinted around in circles for the longest time and occasionally stopped for a split second to change directions. There was also a Dingo fam-- So cute! After the wildlife park we came back to The Gong. I couldn't have asked for a better weekend! :D

Fog-filled valley of the Blue Mountains

Katoomba Waterfall

Koala!

Feeding a roo

Adorable dingo pups