We've certainly taken a lot of great hikes, but this one was among the most amazing, especially after waking up to such clouds and mist that there weren't going to be any views today. Feeling very thankful we'd had that magnificence the day before. So conditions weren't going to be the best, but our wonderful guide, Mark, knew just where to take us. Today in the Blue Mountains we hiked a section he called a hanging swamp. Cascading vegetation over caves, ridge...

Driving through Blue Mountains National Park

Beautiful scenery on our hike in the Blue Mountains. This is a plateau with gorges and canyons. Paths go along cliff sides. We don't do bare face rock cliffs, but here, much is covered with temperate rain forest, making for a great hike ! In the afternoon, we passed through remains of the historic village of Hartley, which was growing in the 19th c, but then got bypassed when the train came through, and it died. And we got our first glimpse of the wildlife ! ...

It's time for a hike, so we took a train to the mountains. Needed to get a hotel before roughing it. Oh my, found The Carrington, a grand one ! A place like this is usually only for our anniversary, but couldn't pass up this opportunity for a taste of another era. And much less expensive than it would be at home. The town, Katoomba, also feels like a step back in time.