A week in the mountains

We've just spent the better part of a week in the Blue Mountains, doing a good amount of walking. On some of the days it's been really nice, but for the last few it's been really misty and quite wet.

A read Bill Bryson's "A Walk in the Woods" a few weeks back, and I kept remembering as we were walking through the rainforests here how "this is what walkers do" (Bryson was on the Appalachian Trail for weeks on end - we were just doing day hikes from our hostel, but I'm sure some similarities exist!).

Walking is actually a lovely way to spend the day, clambering about wet rocks and muddy paths, seeing the occasional beautiful cockatoo or parrot overhead, beautiful waterfalls, and lovely hot tea from our vacuum flask.

So we've been putting in 4-6 hours of walking a day (with one day off for laundry and generally lazing about), then spending the afternoons and evenings watching films, reading, and playing cards.

The hostel we've been in, the Flying Fox in Katoomba, has been great - really friendly people, not stressful at all - even for me, who gets quite nervous around new people, usually. Free "brekkie" every day is nice, with mulled wine brewed up by the owner, Ross, most evenings. Fantastic!

I do feel we're on easy street here - Australia is beautiful, and entirely comfortable. Not so much to relate in terms of heart wrenching moral conflicts or poverty or whatnot. Oz is lovely, clean, friendly and happy, from what I've seen of it.