Blue Mountain

Location | Parramatta, Australia

Woke up at 5am to head out to catch a flight to Sydney. Arrived and met our new tour guide, Michael and also got onto a very smelly and old bus. We drove through Sydney and got to a Chinese buffet (which was absolutely terrible). I left it early and walked half a mile to go buy 2 umbrellas (which we didn’t end up using). We then got on the bus and drove to the Sydney Olympic Stadium from 2000. Although it was interesting to be there, it was completely unimpressive. We only stopped outside the main stadium. There wasn’t much to see.

Then it was off to Blue Mountain which was an hour and a half away. After what seemed like forever, we ended up at this completely drenched mountain covered in dense fog. We could see absolutely nothing. We took this “ride” on this train that literally went down the mountain at an incredibly steep incline (Which felt like 90 degrees). Apparently it’s the Kotoomba Railroad and it’s the steepest incline in the world – that explains things.

Katoomba Rail

Katoomba Rail

We took a short nature walk where Michael pointed out we could see nothing. Then up a tram, to the gift shop, back on the bus and back to Sydney.

The Forest

The Forest

We got to this casino type place where we had dinner then went to our hotel…

Once inside the hotel… I went to my aunt’s room where I looked up and we counted 20+ mosquitoes on the ceiling. It was HORRIFIC. I went down and the manager came up with a can of bug spray to kill them. Then we discovered our hotel room ALSO had mosquitoes. He also came by to spray all of those. I’m just glad I don’t see any other bugs.

About The Author

Joannie

Hi, my name is Joanna and I'm a 24 and a graduate of the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor. I studied Anthropology and Asian Languages and Cultures with a focus on Japanese. I currently work in New York City at Time Inc in the Consumer Marketing Division. The titles I work on are Money, Fortune, & Real Simple Magazines. I am focused on retention and billing for the magazines. My family is Taiwanese, but I was born in Pittsburg, Kansas. I speak two languages fluently: English and Mandarin Chinese. I have a good grasp of the native Taiwanese language, I studied French for 5 years, and I studied Japanese for 3 years at a college level. I love languages, but it is tough when I don't have the chances to utilize them in an everyday environment. I have so many different interests, from art, music to technology. I love things like reading the news or just hanging out with friends. I like to try new things, especially new foods or going to unknown places.

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27

10 2009

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