In the Blue Mountains

Today's big news is the end of the transfer window. Ciaran was well excited by the fact that Arsenal had once again made no use of it. He says "insert sad face here".
Aside from reeling from that shocking revelation, today we've been roaming around the Blue Mountains, which are just North West of Sydney. We thought about booking a trip until we found out that we could just get the train and pay a tenth of what a trip would cost us. We are backpackers now, after all!!
The train takes just two hours from Central Station, which gives you some valuable time to make plans for your next destination. If you bring your Lonely Planet with you, that is, which of course, we didn't.
It's the last stop on the train for the Blue   Mountains - 'Katoomba'. You really don't need a guided tour - there are maps everywhere in Katoomba and we easily found our way to Katoomba Falls, which leads you to a number of walks. Legs will hurt tomorrow! Not nearly as gruelling as the 100k walk but oh my days, sooo many steps! We were really not looking forward to the climb back up but luckily there was a cable car back up from the bottom, whoop! Just a shame the world's steepest railway was out of service, as that would have been a very awesome way to get back to the top of the Falls. The walking/climbing was all worth it anyway. The rainforest is so lush and it was so hot and sunny today, it was much nicer being in the shade, with all the lizards and random birds. And some of the viewpoints had just amazing views, as well as allowing you to literally live life on the edge, given their precarious position at the edge of cliff overhangs. The Three Sisters were pretty cool but to be honest all of the scenery along the way is really quite beautiful, the kind you (or maybe just I) can't capture on the camera.
As Ciaran put it, Blue Mountains, you got BOOKED.

One thing I noticed on the way home today... I'm not sure if it's because we look like bogan backpackers, but every time we use the self service checkouts at the supermarket here in Australia, the staff actually go out of their way to move so that they can watch you pay. Wtf is that about? Surely if I was planning on stealing something I wouldn't be at the checkout?! Super rude! Eurghhhhh, almost ruined my laid-back-traveller vibe!!