That next day in Wollangambe was undoubtedly my favourite of the trip so far. Shaun the hostel owner had left early for work, leaving the residents to their own devices. The night before, the knowledgeable American fellow hosteller Scott had described a sheer cliff which sits on an incredibly deep dam, and I'd been dying to get there. Armed with his scribbled map we set out through the bush, beating off the flies with a stick, and after about half an hour came across the place.
It had been my ambition to jump from the top into the dam - both Scott and Shaun's son had said it was fine. However after a short swim and a 25-foot climb it did look pretty high up there! It wasn't until a 15-year old local boy did the jump first that I had the courage to leap. . . and it was incredibly exhilarating! Josh was just seconds behind me and I think for him it must have been worse as he's scared of heights - still, those few seconds of hanging and falling will stick in my memory!
After a quick swim we headed back for the lodge just in time to escape the thunder storm that had been brewing. We were desperate for it to die down as I wanted to go kangaroo searching in the evening. I wasn't disappointed. Again using a map drawn by Scott we set out just before dusk for a spot where travellers before had seen 'roos and wallabies, and were rewarded by seeing three different types of wallaby including a relatively rare black rock one. My first Australian marsupials!
Returning to the lodge we cooked dinner and were pretty early to sleep - because I was making Josh get up at 4.30 the next morning! I wanted to watch the sunrise which begins at about 5.30. At exactly that time we were positioned on a rock overlooking one of the valleys just down from Shaun's back garden. It was a slow sunrise and the colours and the clouds slowly glowing pink were beautiful. We returned to the lodge for a swift siesta before starting the 50 minute trek complete with backpacks so we could catch the train out of Wollangambe again (Shaun was out at work and he was our only means of transport). It was pretty exhausting but we made the train in time, now bound for Katoomba to see some of the more obvious sights of the blue mountains.
We intended to have just one night at the YHA there, but after being heavily rained on we extended our stay for another night to get in a full day's exploration. Luckily the next day, the rain stopped so we hopped on one of the tourist buses and got off at Gordon Falls. We intended to do the short walk between there and the next falls before getting back on the bus, but us being us, we ended up walking the entire cliff route - still, all this walking is doing wonders for my legs!
The walk includes some absolutely breathtaking views across the blue mountains (so called because of the blue mist that rises from the eucalyptus trees), including the much photographed Three Sisters Rocks. Other highlights included the Leura cascades and falls, the gruelling 900 step climb, and for me the ultimate highlight - getting a lizard to eat bread off my hand!! We'd found it bathing in the sun and I couldn't believe it would be that tame - that definitely made my day. And I introduced Josh to peanut butter and banana sandwiches, which he agreed were good
Next morning was check-out from Katoomba, and we headed back to Sydney. On the way we stopped at Wentworth Falls to follow the Charles Darwin walk down to the waterfalls. They were very beautiful, but personally I was still exhausted after the day before so we didn't really do much walking!
When we got to Sydney we went straight out again for Coogee - which as I've said before is where I hope to settle for a bit - and to the Coogee Beach Backpackers Hostel. Its location by the beach (besides being on a very steep hill) certainly makes it ideal. In the evening we went to the Beach Palace hotel - one of the two main venues in Coogee where you can have a few quiet drinks and a bit of much needed recuperation!
Our next day involved an exploration of the town, and my first attempts at job-hunting as I filled in a couple of application forms at the two biggest bars there. We bought a big pile of fresh groceries from the stunningly good value food shops with the intention of making something with nutritional value - noodle and vegetable stir-fry. I started to think it might be quite nice to live here for a while - life by the beach in a smallish friendly area, while back home I receive reports of cold wet days. . . life is definitely looking good!
Tuesday 9th was Josh's last full day with me, and we spent the morning shopping around Coogee. In the evening we went out for dinner to a funky restaurant called Rice which is just two minutes walk from the hostel and does all manner of Asian-style meals. It also gave me the chance to eat aubergine which is one of my world's favourite foods so I was happy! That's one thing about Australia - when food is such incredibly good value it makes it tempting just to eat out all the time!
The Wednesday morning I saw Josh off at the airport, which was pretty depressing. Still, I picked myself up by writing lots of emails back home, although it was hard suddenly being alone again. I moved into a dorm, which was a good idea - no sooner had I got there than my room-mate invited me out for the evening. A group of us went to the Palace hotel to play 'toss the boss'. You order your drinks and the server flips a coin. If you guess right you get your drink free, if not you pay. I was rewarded with a free jug of beer, so I was pretty pleased!
It was good fun, and they're a decent crowd of people, so I reckon everything's going to work out ok again.. . and tomorrow I've agreed to go and watch tennis at the Olympic park, so I'll be able to report how the champions are getting on.
Until next time (when I'll still be in the sun - it really is a tough life this you know)
Milly
