On The Edge of Glory

It's 2:40 am. Scotty turns his key in the ignition and cold air blasts through the air vents. I squint at the lights on the dashboard. It feels like a dream. I've been awake for a bit. Scotty piles some of his t-shirts on top of my curled-up body.

It was well after dark when we finally made it up into the Blue Mountains. We parked the car outside the tourist info center with plans to wake up with the sun and inquire about a good day hike before the bus loads of people arrived.

As we ascended, the temperature gauge on the car dropped from a balmy 20 degrees to a chilly 11 (rather chilly seeing as I didn't even pack a pair of sweats or a hoodie). Scotty was a little worried about me being warm enough sleeping in the car and asked if we should find a hostel.

Nope. Let's save that $60. We come this far, we're gonna last out the entire 7 nights without spending a dime on accommodation.

Laying there in fetal position on my reclined seat, waiting for the cold air to heat up, I felt it: this is exactly what I came for.

Freezing while sleeping in a car doesn't sound all that great, but let my try to paint a picture of how my mind works. I am here, on the other side of the world, away from everyone I know except for this man that I have loved for close to 12 years. We're in a strange country, we've been driving in the dark for a few hours now. The only bits we've been able to see of our surroundings were those illuminated by our headlights or the few patches of street lights we've come across. We're tucked into the mountains. The air is crisp and it feels like it's only the 2 of us for miles (we were in a little town, it just felt like it). It's completely silent and so so so dark... and here we are sleeping in a car- doing our best to save every cent. It felt like an adventure. It's the crazy things that make it exciting. I know that sleeping in a car isn't mental, but it's a little nuts. Waking up and running the car so that you can feel your toes again is a bit absurd. Trying to weigh whether that towel under your head is best used as a pillow, or if you should forget the "luxury" of a pillow and throw it over top of you like a blanket... and further, being so torn by the decision that it takes you 10 mins to decide that it's staying as a pillow because you can squeeze a few inches tighter into a ball and feel warm enough to fall back asleep- it's kinda crazy. And yet, it is these kind of stories I want to tell at dinner parties, to my children and to each other when we're old and grey.

Ten minutes later, warm air was flooding the car. I felt comfortable enough to stretch out. Scotty turned the car off, we said "goodnight" again, and fell back asleep until the sun woke us up at 7:30.

While I tried to make myself feel freshened up (it just so happens that my hiking/workout clothes also doubled as my car sleeping pj's... and wearing the same clothes you slept in somehow feels very dirty) Scotty went to find a bathroom. A few minutes later, he was back at the car with a lively look on his face and told me I just had to see this.

AT 7:40, WE WERE THE ONLY ONES ON THE VIEWING PLATFORM. BY 9AM THERE WERE PROBABLY 200 PEOPLE CROWDED ONTO IT.

Oh. I See. 

We slept on the edge of heaven last night. Guess it was worth it. My eyes are having a hard time keeping up with my soaring heart... but I'll manage.

The Jamison Valley, in the morning light... one of the most stunning things I have ever laid eyes on. And I could go back into my God the creator spiel, but I'll just leave it as this: He's so good to us. This earth is so much more beautiful than I can comprehend. I hope I never stop falling in love with it.

THE THREE-SISTERS ROCK FORMATION. DREAMTIME STORY IS THAT THE THREE SISTERS WERE TURNED TO STONE BY A WITCHDOCTOR WHO WAS TRYING TO PROTECT THEM IN BATTLE, BUT HE WAS KILLED IN THE BATTLE AND SO THEY REMAIN TRAPPED IN STONE.

It was about 7:45 am, we had over an hour to burn before the tourist center opened, so we walked down to the base of the iconic Three Sisters rock formation. As we started down the stairs, my fear of heights kicked in. The insanely steep rock steps gave way to those awful grate steps that you can see right through. It's funny how the legs get measurably shaky as soon as you see how far up you are.

Awesome. So this metal staircase is bolted to the side of a cliff hundreds of feet above that eucalyptus forest? Perfect. As long as we are at the complete mercy of those bolts, and hard ground is far, far below us, I am tickled.

ON THE EDGE OF THE THREE SISTERS ROCK FORMATION

STONE STEPS CARVED INTO THE SIDE OF THE MOUNTAIN.

I was both mesmerized and dizzy... clutching to the railing for my dear life as Scotty shot down the stairs and out onto the bridge. Why must I always be the old lady in this relationship?

WILD COCKATOO'S!!! I CANNOT TELL YOU HOW INCREDIBLE I FIND THAT.

We wasted the rest of our time wandering the streets of Katoomba.We loaded up on discount fruit (it was at it's peak ripeness- I have never had such delicious lychee nuts in my life!), I got the biggest flat white I could get my paws on (which is at best a grande... if that... don't even get me started on their 1950's drink sizes down here), and then we fell upon the greatest hat shop. Scotty looked at the Indiana Jones hats while I got seriously tempted by a cream panama hat and giggled over all the most amazing fascinators... they are far more British down here than us Canadians... kinda sad about that.

After getting absolutely no help from the lady in the tourist info center (that old bugger wanted me to buy a 5 dollar map... nope, I'll just get lost on your super popular, well marked trail system... jerk), we headed back down those dreadful steps. All the way down to the forest floor. All 800 steps.

LOOK AT THE SIZE OF THOSE FERNS!

THIS TREE STRETCHED UP HIGHER THAN THE REST, AND IT HAD THESE COOL MARKINGS ON IT FROM SOME KIND OF BUG. I WAS RATHER TAKEN WITH IT.

With feet planted firmly on the forest floor, we veered to the left for a 3 hour hike that would take us past some waterfalls, under limestone over-hangs and through some pretty sizeable fern forests. The forest was alive with the songs of birds and loud squawks from white and black cockatoos that seemed to echo across the valley. Seeing the forest from above before you hike it- descending down into a rainforest- is a pretty cool experience. We got an idea of the vastness of the Blue Mountains, and to see that they are so-named because of the blue haze created by a vapour of oil particles released into the air by the eucalyptus trees. 

SCOTTY CLIMBED UP ONE OF THE MANY MOSS-COVERED LIMESTONE FORMATIONS THAT SEEMED TO ABRUPTLY PUNCH UP THROUGH THE FOREST FLOOR.

There were areas where the forest canopy became so dense that it blocked out the light, and despite it being a rather nice day and only noon, it seemed as if night was falling as we tramped further into it.

EVEN THE MOSS LOOKS LIKE A FERN

ANYTHING TARZAN CAN DO, I CAN DO BETTER.

...AND THEN THE VINE BROKE AND I LANDED IN A HEAP ON THE GROUND.

WHY GET A PICTURE BY A WATERFALL WHEN YOU CAN PLAY IN IT?

We surfaced back out of the forest sometime after lunch and enjoyed the sandwiches we had packed overlooking the valley from a different vantage point. As Scotty went to grab the lychee's we noticed a brown liquid seeping out of the bag... a can of coke zero had exploded. Some young german boys gave us some serious stink-eye over it. Their look read, you disgusting pigs... 

I just looked right back and laughed.