Taking the Blues Out of the Blue Mountains

Dear Everyone,

Now that we're out of school and galavanting around (and now that internet costs money!), Nick and I are combining forces and sharing our experiences here through the next few weeks (sometimes). You'll be able to tell when this happens. For example, this is an example (?):

Today Nick and I ventured to the West to explore the Blue Mountains. After missing the first train, our enthusiasm was dampened, but nonetheless, we strove on and got into Katoomba at around 2:30 this arvo (Australian). HAving no accomodations set, we walked the town, looking for a cheap backpackers. Mission accomplished (it even came with free internet [well, 30 minutes] and free tea[bomb])!

We went out for a hike in the Blue Mountains and saw the Three Sister and Katoomba Cascades. The area is similar to the landscape of the Grand Canyon (in fact here it is also called the Grand Canyon) but there is vegetation. And differnt rocks.

After the hike, we met up with our night hike guides at the fake hotel (we gave them some random spot to pick us up in, worked out). They took us about 20 minutes in some direction (Nick says south, with some evidence) where we met Lester. To describe Lestor, let me say this - Gandolf the Grey.

From here we descended down into the rainforset that made up the valleys and got to see glow-worms gleaming from the cliffsides. They looked like green stars that situated themselves in the cracks of the walls so it looked like parallel lines of green stars (horizontal due to iron concentrations in the sandstone). They make webs of hanging mucous that they hide behind- speaking of behinds, the backsides of these insects glow which attract bugs into their mucously spindles.

Overall, a very good day. Nick and I were the only ones booked on the tour so it was very nice to be able to stop when we wanted for pictures and have a better interaction with the two guides. We have a feeling a lot of our trips will be like this since it is not exactly peak tourist time (I saw my breath today!).

Tomorrow morning we await bacon and eggs with a hike to the Katoomba Waterfall before catching a train back to Sydney and seeing James, our African friend, off to the states - We'll catch him in Omaha on the 18th.

Take Care (from Jer),
Much Love (from Nick),