Blue Mountains Trip and Nepean Triathlon

So it's a new year. OK, well, 26 days ago it was a new year. I'm already behind on my resolution to take awesome mad trips and post my awesome mad photos on my awesome mad blog. I realize this. But in fairness to me, Chinese New Year's was only a few days ago. So REALLLLLLLLY, in the Year of the Dragon, I'm not too far behind.

Anyway.

In November, I had the pleasure of racing in the Nepean Triathlon, which was a 1k swim, 30k bike, and 10k run. It took place in Penrith, the far western suburb of Sydney, located at the edge of the famous Blue Mountains.

Our race was at the regatta centre, where the Olympic athletes rowed during the 2000 Sydney Olympics. It was pretty cool to see the Olympic rings carved into the bridge over the rower's lake, the focal point for the race. Every time the course looped around, I saw the Olympic rings and was almost convinced I was actually an Olympic athlete.

That was during the swim and bike. By the time I made it to the 10k run, I was feeling sweaty and miserable and fat and out of shape and almost convinced I was actually a blue whale. Not an Olympic athlete.

Here I am, in the back...lucky number 83.


Nevertheless, it was a good solid race and afterward I met up with my friend Diana to do a trip into the Blue Mountains for some light hiking (yes, after a triathlon) and some beautiful scenery.

The Blue Mountains are a hugely popular destination for daytrippers from Sydney. While they're not mountains in the sense of majestic snow-capped peaks, they're still really gorgeous. The Blue Mountains National Park consists of gentle mountains, sandstone plateaus, and deep valleys, all covered in an endless swath eucalyptus trees that emit a slight chemical mist that turns the sun's rays faintly blue. Hence the name.

The biggest tourist draw is a rock formation known as the Three Sisters. Here's a pic I took of it:



Here I am at the Three Sisters:


There's also a ton of waterfalls, some which are enormously tall, and plenty of little hiking trails. Because our time was so short, we didn't get do do any extensive hikes, but I'm definitely planning on going back to do some long hikes to more hidden waterfalls.

Wentworth Falls:


Here I am at one of the hidden waterfalls:


Overnight, we stayed at YHA Hawkesbury Heights, a little house in the middle of nowhere. It's a good place to stay, mostly because its isolation means there's lots of wildlife about. For example, we had a good ol' time drinking cider and conducting a post-midnight hunt by flashlight for a kangaroo that we thought we heard tramping around outside. We heard him, but never saw him. Later that night, a possum (different species entirely from our gross American possum, by the way) crawled up the tree near my window and squeaked murderously at me.

Good times. Now for some pics.

A twin waterfall:


I made a friend:


Jamison Valley:


Wentworth Falls from a distance. It is 187m (614 ft) tall:


Here I am, mocking a kangaroo. He didn't appreciate it:


The Three Sisters, from a distance:


A kookaburra. And yes, he is sitting in an old gum tree. Well, maybe it's a young gum tree. I can't say for sure since I'm not really an expert on gum trees. Shocking, I know.


Waterfall to the left:


Flowers:


Here I am at one of the lookouts:


An awesome flower:


You can really see the blue mist in this one:


A sky tram over a section of the park that looks burned:


A eucalyptus tree:


Diana and I:


Little stream we saw while hiking:


Viewing platform looking out toward the Three Sisters:


Here are some more pics of me that Diana took:








Apparently, this is where the cool kids hang out and scratch their names into stone.


One of the lookouts: