Australia is known for it’s outback and mountainous areas. Not too far from Sydney, there’s a large area of just beautiful hikes and scenery in the Blue Mountains.
On my first trip to the mountains, I had the opportunity to see the Three Sisters. This rock formation holds a significant history in Aboriginal legends and has become a landmark in Australia. I walked the honeymoon bridge which gave me the opportunity to be inside the rock formation and hiked down the Giant Stairway, which was about a 1000 steps to get to the foot of the rock formation and into the bush below. It was such a journey to get down the stairs, but it was amazing to get to see all the carvings on the side of the rocks and the beautiful landscape below.
Once at the bottom we decided to hike about 3 hours to Leura Cascades, which consist of a bunch of beautiful waterfalls once through the bush.
There were so many amazing hikes that were possible in the Blue Mountains, so I ended up going again and spending a night there. I had made a few friends who are rock climbers, so we decided to go climbing in the mountains, which was a really unique and amazing experience.
It ended up raining the first day, so we tried to figure out what to do. There is not much to do in the rain in the mountains. We ended up exploring a lookout point in the mountains, that ended up looking beautiful with the rain and fog constantly closing in on us in this cave-like cliff area. We spent hours just watching the fog fall and rise on the bush off the cliff.
The next day I finally got the opportunity to climb off cliffs and different mountains. Thankfully, all my friends do this for a living and knew how to handle the different ropes and harnesses because I had never been actual outdoor climbing.
People make those climbs look so easy. Let me tell you it is not. I struggled so much, it was like I had never been to the gym in my life. The climbs they selected had such small holes, that you literally had to use pure fingertip or toe strength to hold and lift yourself higher. I am also only about 5 foot, so I have a super short arm span, which made it even harder to climb up the cliffs. Overall, although difficult, I think everyone should go climbing outdoors at least once in their life because there is nothing more satisfying then actually making it to the top of the mountain and seeing the beautiful view behind it.
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