Another day another dollar. Hopefully well spent on a trip north to The Blue Mountains.

After being locked in the foyer of the apartment building at 05:00 as the door release was broken.  Finally someone was coming back from a very late night and set us free.  A very quick march to the station saw us catch the 1st train to the mountains.

After a 2hr train journey through small towns before climbing the mountains themselves we arrived in Katoomba.

We decided as it was too early for check in we would head straight for the bus to take us to The Grand Canyon Track.

We made our way to the correct bus stop after a coffee at a local café as we had 30mins to spare.  Bus after bus came but not our one.  As the next bus was 45mins we had a look around the town. 

The bus arrived and took half an hour to get to Blackheath where it drops off 20mins from the start of the track.  Just after 10:30 we started the hike and the temperature had already gone past 30⁰C. 3330m above sea level  going down to the bottom which stands at approximately 1000m. So we braced ourselves for s long hike down and a long hike back up.

An hour and a half going down the hill. Rough climb down with a few times heading back up only to go down again.  Finally we arrive at what looks, and feels, like the bottom of the canyon. So we pitch up on a rock and have our cheese and spinach wraps. We were already conserving water for the way up, even though we have 2 litres with us. The heat, even through the trees, is relentless.

For the next nearly 3hrs we were climbing then descending back to ground zero. Finally we came to a waterfall where the heat had got the better of me,  so there was only one thing to do – shower.

By the time we reached the end we were totally exhausted. The temperature reached 36⁰C making the climb extra tiring. 20mins walking back to the bus stop took its toll and we were almost out of water.  After 15mins and having sipped the last few drops, I went to the nearest house to plead for water. Without needing to be asked, the kind gentleman at 139 refilled our bottles with ice-cold water and gave us two frozen ice pops. An absolute legend and life saver.

After the bus back to Katoomba, I took $115 to go shopping at the local Aldi. All was going fairly well, despite being absolutely wrecked.  They only had a 10l bottle of water which I purchased along with a 1/4 large watermelon and wraps etc for the next packed lunch. Unfortunately, when I got to the till I couldn’t find the cash so had to pay by card. Maybe I’d left the cash in the room, so on my reurn I turned the room upside down. No joy and now  I also couldn’t find the room keys. I went out to retrace my steps but I’d forgotton to put my shoes back on, so I spent the next 20mins wandering the streets bare footed, exhausted and looking everywhere including under cars for the money. Returning back I checked my bag one more time and hey-presto, the money and the keys had magically reappeared. A siesta was definitely in order at 18:00 as we were doing a night lit trek later in the evening.  Alarm set for 1hr, woke up on day 5 🤣 8hrs later