Blue Mountains Day 1

      Oh man! It’s been such a long time since I have written. I have a few stories now! The first I want to tell is about my hiking trip to the Blue Mountains. It happened a little differently than I was expecting. Mainly because of the size of group we went with. I met a whole bunch of nice Italians on this trip but learned that they are never on time and are also not very good at directions. People have much different ideas of hiking and camping than I do. This probably has a lot to do with cultural differences but also just lifestyle. So we rented some cars and headed off, it’s only like a 2 hour drive to the mountains so not bad.
      When we got there it was cloudy with a few sprinkles now and then, still alright for some fun. The first place we stopped was a place called Govett’s Leap. It had beautiful views and some trails that went along the edge of the mountain.

 We could see some waterfalls and the beautiful valley. You can see, even in the pictures, the reason for the name of the Blue Mountains. Looking out at the mountains you notice they have a blueish tint to the mist, this is due to the eucalyptus oils given off by the trees, pretty amazing.

I enjoyed the stone structures built at the beginning of the trail blazing days. I was told that the trails in the Blue Mountains are mainly in sets or groups rather than all connected. This is because they were built as a way to bring tourism to the area, so towns competed to have the best sets of trails. The blue mountains have only ever been used for tourism and hiking, no history of logging or commercial exploitation which is pretty cool. 

At night we stayed at a ‘campsite’ which was basically a small collection of grass clearings with some picnic tables and fire pits. It was here that I hopped on over to another campsite and started talking the guys there. They were spending the night there with their families, bringing their kids for some fun times. One of the men works in the mountains doing trail work. He told me a lot about the mountains, their history and gave me some great advice on places to camp, trails to go on and good weekend trips. I always think the best way to find the best things to do in an area is to talk to the locals. It’s also just great to meet new people. 

I fell in love with the different flowers and animals. I just love the outdoors and how different things are from home! Things are more tropical, though it is still a temperate forest.

Here are some more pictures of views and things, just some prettiness to feast your eyes on.