blue mountains

Today I wake up at an ungodly hour so that I can get an early train to Katoomba. I am going to spend the day in the Heritage listed Blue Mountains. At this point, I have been to more UNESCO sites in Australia than I have been to at home.

I'm not sure what to expect in Katoomba, since I didn't book a tour or a bus, but it turns out to be surprisingly easy. I tear a map out of one of those free regional magazines next to the train station, and walk into town. At the tourist information office at The Echo Point, the guide tells me I can do the cliff walk from Katoomba to Leura and it will take a few hours. I hadn't planned on hiking because my legs were so knackered yesterday on my walk, but I'm feeling good now, and plus, I have a nice size food bag that is filled with bread and peas and chocolate.

The Blue Mountains are spectacular. The cliff walk follows the edge of one mountain as it curls around and winds its way to the other side of a huge valley. Every lookout is stunning and it reminds me of the Grand Canyon. The mountains are heavily forested and looking down is like looking at a thick, green, carpet. Several faces of the surrounding cliffs are free of vegetation and the exposed red, striped rock shines in the sun. I take about seven hundred pictures. There are waterfalls, and eroded rocks, and dripping vines, and hollowed out cave-like curves. The mountains are steep and the lookouts are scarily perched on overhanging rocks. On my last hurrah, I climb 388 steps from Siloam's Pool to the cliff top in Leura. Yes, I counted.

I walk from 10am to 4pm and am utterly exhausted by the end. I sleep the whole train ride back.

On my last Australian evening, I shower, pack, make noodles, and read Seven Years in Tibet, which is FANTASTIC. It is the first real book I have read in a month (the rest have been total crap writing), and I can't put it down.

This is when I notice that my watch has broken. On my LAST NIGHT, the screen is mysteriously blank. Not so mysterious when I consider that I accidently showered with it earlier, but it claims to be water resistant up to 30 meters, and a few minutes of shower sprinkle is less than 30 meters, right? WRONG. I can't bring myself to buy another one for bucks for just one fucking morning. I walk around the neighborhood checking the 7-11s, but non of them sell cheapo alarm clocks. I ask two separate roommates to wake me up in the morning and go to sleep.

(I woke up at 5:45, in case you were wondering.)

Australian thing of the day: Nothing. There is nothing left in Australia that I haven't eaten. It is time to go home.