blue mountain state of mind

(cont.)

After hanging out with our furry friends, we left through the gift shop and I thought it'd be a fabulous idea to pick up an Australian flag as a little room decor for when I got home. Picking up the flag, I was confused, and then pretty quickly after that absolutely horrified when I noticed that there was a spider the size of a golf ball clinging to the corner of it. I dropped it and almost started crying, a woman started laughing at me, she passed me a spider free flag (that she inspected herself to make sure it was safe), and I felt like I was going to throw up for the next two hours.

Great fun.

After a quick stop for lunch in a town at the base of the mountains, we started our drive up to the top, finally arriving in Katoomba and stopping at a place called Echo Point to have a look at the Three Sister rock formation.

After that, an aboriginal guide gave a talk about aboriginal culture (and even had us participate in a traditional dance - pretty rad stuff man)

Then, after becoming more cultured, we took to the trails and hiked for about an hour through the rain forest with flawless views of the valleys, the waterfalls and the Three Sisters rock formation. 

Yes I have a selfie stick, no i'm not ashamed of it, and yes, to answer your question, that is traditional aboriginal clay paint on our faces. 

After a beautiful downhill hike where I feared for my life at least 6 seperate times when I thought I was gonna fall flat on my face because the path was so steep, we arrived at the steepest train in the world which we took back up to the top of the mountain. A nice 63 degree angle. Only problem is that I forgot to brace my legs against the seat in front of me, so I was stuck doing a wall sit the whole time trying to keep myself from falling forward and the thought of tumbling forward in the front of the car was moderately terrifying (but also really cool). 

After a wonderful day, we came home and had a pho-cking good dinner of pho and N2 gelato (amazingly delicious and made with dry ice!) - reeces pieces and a cupcake - so freaking fantastic. 

A beautiful jam packed day that left me exhausted and sad that you're not allowed to have kangaroos as pets. 

Cheers

xoxo

Katie