Just got back from a fab weekend in the mountains. Didnt like Sydney so took of Saturday morning. Stayed in a little backpackers in the centre of Katoomba. As iv been in NZ for 2 months i assumed that being in the mountains there would be no or limited supplies so took 4 days shopping up there with me, killed my back. It was a fully serviced town with supermarket, bars everything! Two guys arrived shortly after me, a german backpacker and a 33yr old architect from sydney. They invited me to go hike with them so we headed off to Echo Point to view the three sisters (a famous rock formation) il post the story behind it when i get chance.
The fog was so thick that at first we couldnt see anything! Gutted as apparantly the view from here should be amazing! We stuck around for a while and the fog started to lift to reveal the 3sisters and part of the mountain range. It was a brilliant sight, we continued on the path to Katoomba cascades, couldnt really see the falls and didnt have the energy to walk down to them as it was a mammoth trek. Saw the worlds steepest railway and cable car...52degrees. Was told it was a rip off for the price so didnt bother going on it. we walked back to town and i wandered about the shops...really nice little town. The boys asked if i wanted to go out later on to which i agreed to one as it was saturday night. A few beers later...all paid for insistently by Walter the architect we were in the KAtoomba nightclub danicing to some rather cool funk and soul!! Felt very underdressed for the first time in ages as all the girls were dressed up to the max and i was in trainers and raincoat, v sexy!!
Woke with a slight blurry head which was soon fixed by Marc's famous hangover sandwich (!) containing, bacon, egg, ham, cheese and tuna...very random indeed but tasted really good!! They were going to teh caves then back to sydney...i couldnt afford to go so chilled out for the morning waiting for the rain to stop! It didnt so by 1pm i donned my boots and jacket and headed out. Id heard about a chocolate factory down the road from my hostel so chked it out. They served REAL hot chocolate. I took a pic of this nifty bit of equipmemt...basically a tealight below a little cup with a jug of milk and a tub of handmade choccy chips. I sat there with a magazine making hot chocolate for an hr or so, it was the best thing EVER!!! Beats Cadburys Drinking Chocolate anyday.
After being throughly warmed up by chocolate i went back to echo point to take the other track to a town called Leura. I could not seea thing off the mountain and the paths were turning into mini waterfalls there was that much rain, i was pretty much soaked straight away. but i continued on as desperatley wanted to see Bridal Veil Falls. The sign said 1 and half hrs there, i decided that due to mine and Dains track record on the Tongariro i could do it in 45mins....got there in 1hr so not too bad considering conditions! only saw about 4ppl on the whole track! When i came to the falls lookout i was stunned, i had never seen a big waterfall so i was overwhelmed by it. Had it been a better day i would have taken the tougher rainforest track and gone to the bottom of the falls but it just wasnt a safe option that day. The fog cleared a little so i could see down the valley, it was gorgeous. Found a shortcut back to the road and decided to wimp out of the uphill stair trek on the track and opted for a return by road, so much easier! Got back really quick and spent the rest of the eve in front of the log fire trying to warm up. It was 11 degrees up there and the lodge was really cold. I had a heated mattress pad and an electric heater in the room both of which i had on full blast to try stay warm as had the room to myself last nite, good but means no extra body heat!
Headed back to sydney today and decided to spend a night in sydney as i had a voucher for a hostel in the centre of town which i had to walk past to get the ferry to Manly. The hostel wasnt actually there anymore it is now a Nomads hostel but hte lady said i could use my voucher anyway. It also turned out to be a hostel that my friend simon had been talking about...one with a 28 bed dorm. I could have ppicked a smaller dorm but decided i had to try it just for a laugh and i got it for $20 which is cheap here! doesnt actually feel that big, we shall see tonight how long im kept up by snorers though!
Walked to Darling Harbour today which was really cool actually, had a really nice vibe with loads of restaurants, gardens and cool sculptures. then i went to Paddys Markets which is famous here, made me wish i had money, oh and a bigger backpack! Had loads of wkd shops. Went to Chinatown which was full of restaurants and yummy smells. Nearly bought a crazy cake from a bakery there, just for the novelty,...there werre curried chicken buns, sausage donuts and other bizarre stuff, decided to save my money in the end. gonna head to manly tomoro now, weather looks rubbish for the rest of the week here, think iv had my quota of sunshine in NZ, the tan will be a distant memory on my return to the Uk, boo hoo...xxxx
