Our first visit to the Blue Mountains, back when we first arrived in Australia, was just a quick day tour that didn't explore a lot of the walking trails. So, we wanted to revisit a second time in order to explore a bit more of the area. However, as it is indeed up in the mountains, the temperature drops significantly from Sydney, so we decided to stay two nights in a backpackers instead of trying to brave the cold in the van--though in the end I think I would have slept better in the van. The day we arrived we did a nice walk in the morning before checking in.
We drove to an area called Govett's Leap, a nice lookout over one of the canyons. The weather was cooperating, so we did a few walks in the area to some of the lookout points.
We also did a longer, 2 hour walk, along the cliffside to the next lookout point further down called Evan's Lookout. Lots of up and down stairs, but it was a nice walk and after that we made our way to our hostel in the main town of Katoomba.
I must admit it was nice to be indoors, sleep in a real bed, and use a real kitchen for two days. The first night John and I made a delicious spaghetti Bolognese, which we paired with the Pinot Noir we had bought back in Mornington Peninsula--it was delicious. There was a nice girl from California rooming with us, and later in the evening a random guy comes in a puts down his stuff and leaves for dinner. Of course, we was a snorer. #%!%^&@%^#&*!!!! That's how I feel about that. For two nights, John attempted to kick and shake the bed whenever his snoring got particularly bad--but it was no use. For those two nights I essentially paid to sleep on a couch--which is what I did after lying in bed for 2 hours unable to sleep and becoming exponentially violently angry. This is why I hate backpackers in Australia.
So yes, besides the snorer for two days we had some nice jaunts in the Blue Mountains. The second day we made our way to the Jenolan Caves, first stopping int he morning at a local coffee shop that the owner of the hostel said was the best coffee in town. After highway service station coffee, it was a nice change. It was an area an extra 1.5 hours drive into the Blue Mountains, and the main road we tried to take was closed that morning--apparently they had a bad wind storm a few days before and were still clearing the road of debris. So we had to take a really roundabout way which took a bit longer, but we still made it in time for our booked cave tour. The drive into the caves, however, was quite steep and a bit treacherous in our camper van, but we made it down without incident--even spotting a lyrebird run across the road! The cave tour we booked was called the Orient, and was one of the more popular show caves--so the group was fully booked and thus a bit of a squeeze as all 25 of us wound our way through the cave. But indeed, it was very pretty and had some beautiful formations and colors. It was divided up into three sections based on the formations and all three were really cool. The cave itself was actually quite warm inside, compared to the outside air temperature, which was nice. Here are some of the pictures of the formations, including one called "The Chandelier."
There are several cave systems within the Jenolan Caves--different rooms and different tours you can take. However, some are more delicate/expensive than others, so we did one of the more basic ones. Apparently there is one called the Ribbon cave that they only open once every Saturday, and for only 8 people. The guy who discovered it told the government about it but said it was too delicate and asked that they not develop it--which is our course just what they did. Apparently the man was quite miffed about that, and when he left Jenolan after several years of exploring, he told the government he had found a cave with a lake large enough to fit a battleship, but that he would never tell them where it was. Even after all these years of searching, they still haven't found it yet and the man took the secret to his grave--kinda cool.
Anywho, as part of the package of buying a guided tour, you also got access to their main "twilight" cave--an open air cave, so to speak, where you had one of those devices to do a self-guided audio tour. This too was nice, though not as interesting as the Orient. But when the sun came out, it made a beautiful picture.
We walked a little more around the property before making our way up and out of the cave area--stopping at the top to give our engine a rest before heading back to the hostel for the night. Enjoying another hot meal and finishing our wine. And once again--sleeping on the couch.
Our next stop--a 6 hour drive north to the small town of Glen Innes.
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