About a month ago Erika was researching the Blue Mountains in New South Wales and learned about a company called High and Wild Adventures, which offered canyoning and abseiling tours of the cliffs and national park. Without completely knowing what we were getting into, she convinced me (who can say no to those big blue eyes?) and we headed out to fulfill our destiny this morning.
We got to Katoomba (I love this country) by 8:45 and met our guides and group. I was the only guy surrounded by six other girls, so my bravery had to be turned up to 11. Surprisingly the heights weren't even an issue. I was lucky, in a way, because I could never tell just how high the cliff was until my butt was out over the edge and I was sitting in an L-Shape with my feet up. We started with an easy 5m cliff (read: tall boulder) but the thing with abseiling is if you can do it on a 5m cliff, you can do 25 almost as easily. We got our lessons from Chey and Evan, our guides, and then tried a few turns on the 5m boulder, a 15m cliff, and then a 25m drop. Everything was going very smoothly, and we were stunned by the sites around us, until I took my first turn on the 25m cliff. I broke the cardinal rule of abseiling and kept my feet up, and bent, as my poor butt kept going down. Suddenly I felt myself go upside down, a fact which was confirmed when Evan, keeping us safe from above, gave me a wide-eyed look and started yelling, "Use your hands!!!" (You're never supposed to use your hands in abseiling unless something is wrong.) At least the harnesses work. Even more surprisingly I somehow did not panic. I kept thinking, "Hmm... something is wrong... well someone is going to fix it." Finally, after I righted myself, with considerable coaching from above, I made my way down the cliff and headed back up for another turn.
After mastering abseiling we headed to an absolutely stunning overlook in the Blue Mountains for a picnic lunch that the guides prepared for us. I could either write a 5 page essay about the Blue Mountains, or I could just post these pictures for you instead. Better yet, I could suggest that you visit them for yourselves, because that's the only way you can fully appreciate them.
The mountains get their name from the blue haze that comes from the eucalyptus gum trees that saturate the region. The gums release oils at such a rate that the forest literally appears blue. This was especially comforting to the two of us as we've been educated among the Blue (Ridge) Mountains before.
After lunch we embarked on the true and previously understated part of our adventure. We took our small van into the park, hiked down deep into the Empress Canyon, and then changed into our wetsuits. For added measure, we put on coats, thermals, and some girls even had winter hats on. Every little bit would help! Evan and Chey estimated the water at 10 C, or 50 F. It didn't even feel that warm. Somehow, even though we watched the video ahead of time, neither Erika nor I internalized just how much time we would spend in (or submerged in) the water. The first full immersion was the toughest: we jumped backwards from a ledge, down 10 (33 feet) meters, and into a pool of terribly brisk water. While Erika handled it like the champ that she is, when I hit the water every one of my muscles tensed up and for a few moments I felt like I couldn't breathe. I backwards doggy-paddled my way back to some dry(ish) rocks and was helped up by the group. After the initial shock wore off, and my extremities finally, and mercifully, went numb, the rest of the jumps, dives, and wades were much easier to take. Each one still shocked the system like nothing I've ever felt, but I was able to enjoy the canyon and our adventure a lot more - especially the part where we jumped from 15m (50 feet) over a few rocks into a waiting pool.
The canyoning culminated in our final abseil of the day - 30 meters (98 feet) down a waterfall. It was pretty difficult to maintain good technique while frigid water keeps pouring on you and around everything that you'd want to push off of / balance on. I did NOT display good technique, but I did make it down unharmed. Erika was the star of the day, impressing our guides by keeping her feet on the cliff the whole time and gracefully navigating the falls with ease.
Our day wasn't done yet as we shook ourselves dry, changed into our spare clothes, and then hiked back up from the canyon floor to the top of the park. Thankfully, we stopped at a few overlooks to snap these views. Again, go visit this place. Pictures just aren't enough.
We finally met up with Kristy and Hannah at the end of the day and headed home where a delicious dinner and warm showers awaited us.
Cheers!
-Simon
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