I checked one adventure off the Aussie bucket list--The Blue Mountains!
I had one of the best days I have had in Australia! I was so lucky that a friend that I made used to live in the Blue Mountians and was keen on having an adventure day! I got up with the sunrise and made us some mint tea for the drive and off we went. 90 mins later we were in the mountains!
We stopped in Leura and window shopped along the cute main street. There were great street buskers and it was such sweet way to enjoy a lazy Sunday morning.
(Leura)
Then we went to the Gordon Falls overlook and it reminded me of the sweeping views in the movie "Australia". It was beautiful and somewhat unreal in how amazing it was. I can't believe there is that much beauty so close to the city. The country is gorgeous.
Afterwards we went to Katoomba, Echo Point, and also saw the 3 sisters rock formation.
But, the best part was getting out into the wilderness and getting my hike on! We went to Wentworth Falls for a hike. On the map below we did the red path:
It was a hike from the top to the bottom of the waterfalls which as you can guess was eaiser on the way down than the way up.
To get to the bottom there were a ton of stairs. Some were carved into the mountain, some were metal rings, and 6 looked like this:
It was a pretty vertical plunge and at times alot like rapelling without the ropes.
This picture was taken while I was holding on to a rail on the side of a mountain. (Sorry for the shameless selfie)
Once we got to the bottom of the mountain, the way to the falls was cool and wet. It looked like this:
*note, more steps...haha
This is a view of the falls before going into the trees:
We came from the top of that picture. ANnnnnddd that means that we went back up. It was a great workout going home! Most hikes I have done are where you gain altitude going on the hike and get the easy part coming back. This was the opposite. You actually had to have energy to get home!
So happy and in my element!
At the end this was waiting:
It reminded me of Hanging Lake and the Mother's Day hikes that my mom and I used to do. There was no one around and it was so peaceful.
Ohai Australia.
It was a retreat. For a while I just laid down, listened to the water, and relaxed. We also took some time and davened before we left. Brought some heaven down to heaven on earth :)
I loved the trees and the views.
So now you have all seen some of the real nature of Australia.
On our way home from the hike, Baruch and I were talking about how I had never driven backwards. He just pulls the car over on the side of this country road and tells me to trade places.
My question was "wait! are we doing this? like really?"
Answer: "Yep"
He was cool as a cucumber and so trusting. It was great! He had me drive all over (and not just backroads). I took on a traffic circle, right hand turns, the highway, and even parallel parked! The best part was that the signal and the windshield wiper are on opposite sides of the steering wheel, so for about the first 6 times I tried to turn, I turned on the winshield wipers instead. It was pretty funny! Other than that, it was so much eaiser than I expected.
Huge thanks to Baruch 
for being my awesome tour guide, road trip and hiking partner, and brave passenger!
It was the most relaxing way to spend the weekend and see a new part of Australia. I realized that up until then, I had actually only ever been to Sydney, which meant I could only say that I loved Sydney. Now I can say I love Sydney and the Blue mountains. Progress. Glad I got to have my 1st non-Sydney adventure! Hope to have many more soon and to get back to the mountains, as well!
To wherever my adventure waits...
