Got the train up to the Blue Mountains; only two hours and
definately worth it. Headed to Katoomba YHA and wasn’t dissapointed; a really
nice hostel. After me getting another
beating by Andy during a game of shithead we got invited to play some drinking
games with two Canadian girls, Marisa and Lindsay, and an Irishman, Sean. The evening went downhill from then on. Drank a fair amount of our nice cheap (but
not the cheapest – Andy has labeled me wine ponce) and drunkenly commited
ourselves to a nice long six hour trek to
the Ruined Castle with Marisa and Lindsay. Woke up in the morning slightly worse for wear
and set off on our jaunt into the wilderness.
The ladies were suitably attired in shorts and trainer socks; something
they regretted later I’m sure! After a
couple of hours of trecking in what felt like a Gorrillas in the Mist remake
(very nice it was too), Lindsay noticed something black and wormlike hanging
onto her trainer. With much screaming
ensuing, (mostly by the girls) the days battle against the dreaded leaches
began. Top scorer with three bites was Andy
with me and Lindsay following closely behind with two a piece. Note for future reference – leaches can bite
through socks....the little gits!
Anyway, after another hour we arrived at the first rock outcrop and
after a bit of debate decided these weren’t good enough to warrant the name of
Ruined Castle and so set off further down the path. I was imaging some kind of aboriginal take on
a medieval fort but what we found was
even better. Arrived at some huge rock
outcrops right at the top of a hill. After
some haphazzard rock climbing (Andy hugged some rocks nice an closely) we made it to the top and had a much deserved
lunch.
The great views made the journey
and war against the leaches definately worth it. Headed back towards Katoomba and completed
our 10k trek with a 900 step stairs to finish off mostly intact.
For some reason the girls took it uppon
themselves to return all the errant Katoomba shopping trolleys on the way back
to the hostel, so Andy and I did the gentlemanly thing - watched and laughed as
they trudged up the hill.
Got back to
the hostel and decided we were too knackered to cook so headed out for a bite
to eat. This was delayed by a whopping
two hours while the Canadian contingent beautified themseleves. By ten we managed to actually head out and
stumbled from closed place to closed place and somehow through a stroke of luck
ended up at a really nice pizza place. Ended up in a locals pub wth good
music. Ordered the cheapest whiskey
& coke and got served a morgans spice instead – oh well who am i to argue.
Quote of the day – ‘Do
women have kidneys too?’
