I have had a really busy few days, as not only have I been cramming in the hours at work, I have also been being as 'touristy' as possible with my Scottish friends. Sadly, they have left now, but we are aiming to meet up in New Zealand later in the year.

On Tuesday, all three of us took advantage of a hostel staff discount to book places on a day tour to the Blue Mountains, a world heritage site and often described as '"The Grand Canyon of Australia". This was to prove to be a great day, albeit a bit challenging for yours truly, as we were picked up at 8am from the hostel, only an hour after I finished a night shift.....Luckily, my fatigue was ousted by a quick shower at the hostel and a balanced breakfast of weetabix and red bull.

The pick up was prompt, and before we knew it we were out of the big city. A quick stop at Olympic Park for the driver to change his microphone was made, allowing a brief glimpse of what London in 2012 SHOULD look like. The area of the 2000 games is still amazingly well maintained, with all the facilities now dedicated to the local population and such events as music performances. It is hard to imagine this calm, quiet area as the hectic epicenter of an Olympic games with hundreds of thousands of people flocking to see the best sports men and women the world had to offer at the turn of the millennium.

After this we took a 40 minute drive to the Nepean river, an isolated, mountain shrouded park area where we all shared morning tea. We paid for the trip there, and then moved on to an area of national reserve, in order to search for Kangaroos. Unfortunately, despite a short search, no kangaroos where to be found, and due to time constraints we had to move off before we had found them. I guess Kanga and Roo were both out playing with Tigga that day...

We next arrived in an area called The Kings Tableland, known as such because the lay out of the land looks like a giant feast table. From here we were awestruck by the amazing panoramic views of the Blue Mountains, which despite the name are not mountains at all, but more of a chain of Canyons, with steep hills and plunging, tree covered valleys. They did live up to their name in one respect though, from our viewpoint the blue tinge caused by the vapor of Eucalyptus trees was very noticeable. The scenery, coupled with the height (even if not mountainous) made this one of those rare areas where one feels completely humbled by the works of nature that you have had the honour and pleasure of setting eyes upon.

The next stop on the tour was the Garden Village of Leura, so called due to the world famous houses and gardens held within its limits. The houses were truly impressive, and all had gardens of dramatic size. Here we stopped for lunch. Some people had paid extra to have theirs provided by the tour operators in a pizza and pasta place, but we had decided in advance to take advantage of the many picnic places in the area to dine outside. How ever hard it was for me to pass up a good pizza opportunity, I am glad I did as it meant we got to get off the beaten track a bit and eat in at a quiet picnic area with only birds and a small climbing frame for company. After downing our peanut butter sandwiches, we went for a short exploration of the village, before returning to the bus.

After lunch, we completed our drive to the Blue Mountains proper. We got off at a place called Katoomba. Here we took a a glass bottomed cable car over a huge valley, which was almost too much for one Canadian girl in the group who had a fear of heights! We took in amazing views from this out of this strange mode of transport, including at one stage a waterfall on one side of the car, and the world famous Three Sisters rock formation on the other. The story behind the name is that a medicine man turned his three daughters to rock to save them from a mythical beast, but in turn had to morph into a bird to hide from the creature. With wings instead of hands he was then unable to use his magic stick to reverse the spells.

On arrival at the other side of the valley, we proceeded down another cable car, this time the worlds steepest, to get to the valley floor. It was here that we took a boardwalk around a rainforest sustained entirely by the peculiar characteristics of the area. The shadows of all the rock formations above transpire to block the sum from reaching the area for most of the day, which leaves the ground in the permanent state of dampness needed for rainforest formation. That, coupled with the area's high water table have led to a unique growth of flora and fauna in the area. As we walked through the area, we took time to see the sights both man-made and natural, with the old coal mines and Katoomba Waterfall being the highlights. We then took a third cable car back up the other side of the valley from the one we arrived at, to be met by the bus.

It was then back on the bus for the drive back to Olympic park, and here we left our erstwhile guide to complete our journey via a twilight river cruise, which past such sights as the Opera House and Harbor Bridge. I spent the evening in the hostel with my friends, cooking dinner in the evening, before we all had an early night as I had a 7am shift, and they a 6.30am flight. It was really nice to see some friends that I think can be classed as old, because even though we met only a month ago, we have all traveled many miles since our meeting place in Hiroshima, Japan. It was in all, a very good day!