Jenolan Caves

Day 3 in the Blue Mountains...before I continue on, I should probably explain why they are called the Blue Mountains. Apparently, the man who discovered the mountains saw a blue hue coming off from the mountains so he named them Blue Mountains. Many years later, someone realized the color came from the eucalyptus tree oils. And that my friends is how it got its name (I know, a long and complicated story...).

FIRST OF ALL...IT WAS SOMEWHAT SUNNY TODAY AND DIDN'T RAIN!!!!!!

So today started with me getting up early and heading to the Village Gym. Yup, that's right...up here in the beautiful Blue Mountains and I went to the gym. Let me tell you, it was the best feeling ever for me! I know I'm crazy, but I guess most people just wouldn't understand. After not lifting for 2 weeks, it felt so good to get a 2 hour workout in. It was such a quaint little place and the people were super nice. Again, it felt wonderful to be there!

After I came back and showered, I headed off for my day trip to the Jenolan Caves. Today was my first day doing something alone - no one else wanted to come and I didn't want to do what anyone else was doing. It felt good to be alone, but lonely (make sense?!?!). It was good practice though for my future adventures - I won't be with the other three the rest of the time.

So I got on my tour bus and headed 75km to Jenolan Caves. I saw a lot more of the mountains and what a beautiful area this is. So many trees and very green. It is totally different type of mountains than what I am used to. I saw a bunch of cows (look Pat, dows!) and sheep along the way and many farms. Our bus driver told us a lot of history about the area so I was glad I took the tour to learn more and see more.

The road going down to the caves was crazy. It was alittle more than a bus length wide and very steep. The driver did very well to maneuver around the turns. It was have been awesome riding it on a motorcycle (Vinny would have loved it!).

The caves were amazing (I will upload photos when I get back to Sydney). It reminded me of caves I saw back in the states, but it still surprises me what nature can do when I see things like this. I wanted to touch them, but I wasn't allowed. :( The tour lasted 1.5 hours and we climbed a ton of steps in and out of them. ALL THESE STEPS HERE!!! After the tour, I walked the trail around this blue water lake at the front entrance of the caves. They saw sometimes you can see platypus, but I didn't see anything. It was still really pretty though. Oh and then an old lady stopped me and asked if I had seen her friend in a big hat. I don't know if she was serious of a crazy old lady...I never did see the other lady with a big hat.

After that, it was time to take the bus back to the hostel. We tried to go to the local Kmart but it closed at 5:30pm (surprise, surprise), so we watched a movie instead. Nothing really excited is going on tonight - I may just curl up with my book and enjoy the atmosphere here on our last night. I think we are all tired from all the bushwalking and we are planning on doing another bushwalk tomorrow that is 5-6 hours long, so we are saving energy for that.

Being alone today was nice and I finally had some time to think about life and whatnot. It was also nice to be able to just do what I wanted, when I wanted and not worry about anyone else. I think I will enjoy the moments I have like this throughout the trip.

On a side note, major tragedy in Australia today...Heath Ledger died in NYC at the age of 28. He was born in Perth, so it is big news around here. He was so young and very talented. He will be missed...