Julie posing at Blue Mountains

Blue Mountains

From Sydney, we hopped on the train and traveled west for about an hour to the small town of Katoomba.  Here we met up with a tour guide that took us into the Blue Mountains for some cliffside traversals and rappels.  The day was broken into a morning and afternoon session.  We spent all morning learning the basics of ropework and did two rappels along a cliff.

Julie preparing for a free rappel
Julie preparing for a free rappel

Lyle rappelling through a crevasse
Lyle rappelling through a crevasse

After breaking for lunch, we headed down a canyon for a river hike culminating in a waterfall rappel.

Everyone about to go canyoning
Everyone about to go canyoning
Rappelling down a waterfall
Rappelling down a waterfall

After making it safely to the bottom of the waterfall we started the long hike out of the canyon and stopped for a few photos along the way.

Everyone at the end of our spelunking tour
Everyone at the end of our spelunking tour

This was our last full day in the Sydney area.  Tomorrow, we are headed north to Fraser Island.