Day 5- Saturday 27th July 2013

It's a Unesco World heritage site and i have to admit it is a very beautiful area of natural beauty which has remained remarkably uncommercialised. As promised i am now sat by the fire in the hostel resting my weary legs as the terrain certainly took its toll on them. We decided today to descend towards the valley floor- hint in the word descend as to what’s coming next. -a steep descent of over 900 steps which seemed more like 9000. (think the person who wrote the guide lost count somewhere). By the time we reached the end of the steps an hour later we were still nowhere near the bottom of the ravine. We were more than happy to follow the path, walking more or less on the level, for another hour or so. We took lots of pics of the lovely views in between complaining about sore legs, and were very proud of ourselves at the end despite opting for a ride back up on the steepest train in the world (well it was that or another 900+ steps going back up !)

We didn’t see many animals and birds- just some scrub wrens, a large black and white raven like bird, and a flock of white cockatoo in the distance- although we did hear the lyrebird. The possum and quolls were tucked up in bed – and i don’t fancy going back in the dark to look for 'em so they’ll have to wait ‘til another time.

Needless to say though we did have a great time. We rounded off the day with our first stint of hostel catering- ready cooked chicken, snow pea sprouts and potato salad- served with wraps and washed down with the best quality wine 3 dollars could buy. Think we might go to bed soon though tonight with the rest of the wine and the telly- as the Japanese have just brought in their tea- a huge box of beers. Not sure i will be able to hold John back. He is keeping himself entertained though totting up how much alcohol they are bringing in, and practicing his extensive Japanese vocabulary under his breath. He reckons some of them look like Bruce Lee on speed- as they all have their distinctive dress sense. Need to find a reason for him to say Hello or Thank you first as they’re the only words he knows so far. I think this multi cultural experience is gonna prove very educational for John. He nearly dashed into the kitchen a minute ago to wrestle a knife from one lad who looks like a Samurai warrior. (Think it’s time i took him off to bed- the wine seems to be taking effect.)