Ross McKay: Blue Mountains National Park - Exploration

Depending on what kind of activities you are into in Australia don’t let your apprehensiveness of “going it alone” keep you away.  The Blue Mountains just 80k West of Sydney is a great place to explore, enjoy nature with beautiful waterfalls, and have some reflective moments alone.  The park is massive and most bushwalking trails can be accessed close to the train station.  Alternatively sticking your thumb out is another option if your adventurous and don’t mind having the odd convo with a stranger. 

I went on a hike called the Federal Pass in the Blue Mountains, SOLO.  It was a 40 minute walk from the train station to the conservation hut, where the friendly staff sold me a cheap map to find my way around the park and its majestic waterfalls.  The walk itself was 5 hours and takes you from the cliff top down through majestic waterfalls to the cool valley below.  Unique geological formations makes it possible to walk overtop and underneath the cliff in a eroded passageway that used to be filled by clay but has been washed away by the rainstorms that hammer the region from time to time.  Having been a Tuesday the trail was empty except for 4 people I saw along the whole trail.  The previous 3 days it had been raining so many parts of the trail had water cascading down it, a unique experience indeed!  The climax of the journey was at Wentworth Falls where water falls over a 150-meter vertical drop onto pools below, along with the climb up the “grand stairway”.  An incredible hike especially given the lack of other people in the area.

 

I guess what I’ll leave you with is that no matter where you go on your study abroad trip, try to find something that you enjoy doing, for me it is hiking.  Even if you can’t find people to do it with go solo!  Just tell someone where you're going and when you will be back.  Nothing like a 5 hour solo hike to inspire some deep introspecetion!