Blue Mountains

One of my favorite experiences I have had in Australia has been my weekend in the Blue Mountains. When I first came to Sydney it was quite tough for me to adjust and meet friends at first. I was very homesick. This trip to the Blue Mountains was absolutely breathtaking and really fun. I was glad to have met so many new people and made new friends on our journey in the Blue Mountains. All three days were very memorable – but the second day was my favorite of all of them. Going into the second day, we were told by our instructors that our hike was going to be rather difficult. After the 900 steps from the first day, I was ready to take on the next challenge. The hike we went was not filled with many tourists, and it took all day. It was very grueling at points, and I just wanted to sit down and give up on hiking. But, all the hard work made seeing the incredible views even more meaningful.

It was very difficult deciding between the many pictures I captured over that weekend. The first picture I chose from this weekend was a panoramic shot of our second day hike. As I was saying before, it was very difficult hiking that day. But, the view from the top of the mountain after hours and hours of hiking was worth it. I can relate my experience from that day to a quote from the movie “Ferris Bueller’s Day off”, “Life moves pretty fast. If you don't stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it”. This statement was very true. Hiking through the trails, I would just stop to capture the moment of the beautiful nature around me. My friend Kelly and I, who are both from the Midwest (where we are used to flat fields of corn and wheat) , were discussing that we should really take in every moment in this beautiful setting and appreciate where we were.

The second picture I chose from this trip was a go-pro shot of my cabin group eating lunch together on the last day. I knew Mandy pretty well from my building and I sort of knew Veronica, Zoe, and Kelly. I was so glad that I shared a cabin with these girls all weekend. We had such a blast together hiking through the mountains, taking many pictures, roasting s'mores, and talking to each other in our bunk beds. I was glad to get to know these girls better and I felt very comfortable being myself around them. We all got along so well and some of us plan on travelling together for the remaining of the semester. It was also great getting to know other cabins of people who I never knew before this trip. I really enjoyed the whole social experience of this trip. The outdoor environment also invites and requires that people work together and support each other, T.A Loeffler (2004). I felt that in order to climb the mountain successfully the second day everyone had to work together as a team to complete this challenge.

The last image I chose was a shot of me by the waterfalls on the second hike. On this trip I really got to know myself more just from hiking in the mountains. I have always enjoyed the outdoors, but now I have a much greater appreciation for nature. As I was saying from before, I felt comfortable with the other people that I was with and with myself to act like my normal goofy self. Rubbing dirt all over my face from diving in the water for yabbies and from crawling through a very narrow tunnel were all things that made me gain more confidence in myself. I felt that this picture clearly represented my self confidence that I gained from this trip.

I made a montage video of our hikes during the Blue Mountains with my gopro and I feel like that this really captures the essence of the weekend and it brings back the amazing memories that I have from this experience. I also have another video of my friend Kelly talking about me from the weekend.

Overall, this trip in the Blue Mountains was a fantastic experience and has been one of my favorite weekends in Australia. It was nice to leave the city of Sydney and to experience nature completely. I was also really glad that we were cut off from our cell phones all weekend – it added a more authentic feel of being in the mountains. I really have a new fond appreciation for nature and hiking. Completing a very difficult hike has been one of the more rewarding feelings I have had in my life. It is amazing to see what our planet offers and I have really appreciated the outdoors more during my time in Australia. I also made new friends from this weekend who have made me feel very comfortable in my own skin. I am so ready to take on the next challenge that’s ahead and my weekend in the Blue Mountains helped me gain more self-confidence. 

References

T.A Loeffler (2004) ‘A Picture is Worth... Capturing Meaning and Facilitating Connections: Using Outdoor Education Students' Photographs’: http://www.latrobe.edu.au/education/downloads/2004_conference_loeffler.pdf

Royal National Park

This was an incredible experience exploring the Royal National Park. I had no idea that it was one the oldest parks in the world. I did not expect the Royal National Park to be so close to the city. It actually is pretty easy apparently to get public transportation to the Royal National Park. We arrived to the park, and were brought to restrooms originally because they were the only restrooms in the whole park. We then drove to Bundeena, which I did not expect there to be a small town nearby. We met our tour guide named Pete, who seemed to have a pretty decent knowledge of the area. He gave each of us in our group responsibility of navigation through the park. I usually use an iPhone or GPS to navigate nowadays, so that was an adjustment for me to get used to. We began our walk and we had to make sure we were all properly hydrated. We made it towards the coast, and I was so stunned with how beautiful the coast was. The view was breathtaking. I was so starstruck with how large the waves were.

I am originally from Cleveland, Ohio and I grew up with Lake Erie my whole life. Lake Erie is one of the North American Great Lakes, we get some waves but nothing like the waves I saw along the coast of the Royal National Park. The waves were majestic and grabbed my attention as the came into the cliffs of the coast. It felt so relaxing and peaceful seeing this sight. 

Waking through to each coastal spot, we went through trails all along the mountainous terrain of the Royal National Park. I would generally say that I am a physically fit person, but climbing up a steep hill was pretty exhausting for me. Cleveland, Ohio is very flat, but where I go to school in Cincinnati, Ohio is somewhat hilly. But, all of Ohio is grasslands for the terrain. It was much different to see bushes, shrubs, and different types of grass along the hills of the trails of the Royal National Park. 

I was so excited to see a beach along the way for this walk. We stopped and had lunch nearby the Marley Beach. It was so beautiful seeing how desolate this beach was. I have been to many beaches along Lake Erie and the ocean before and there have always been so many people at the beaches I've been to. It felt so peaceful to be at this beach, and I wish I could have spent the whole afternoon there. But, we were running into some rough weather along our walk. 

 Our group made the most out of our walk. It was actually kinda fun walking through the torrential downpour. Rainfall is a huge part of nature that needs more appreciation. I personally enjoy hearing rain and watching the clouds of the sky during a storm. Back home, my friends and I would often drive to Lake Erie to watch the lake during a huge thunderstorm. One of my favorite spots along this whole walk was the natural pool. I have never seen anything quite like it before. I totally would have jumped into the water if I wasn't already soaking wet from the rain. But, it was pretty cool seeing a sight like this, and how clean and pristine the water was.

I would say that overall this experience has been one of my favorite so far in Sydney. I think that this city is beautiful, but it felt so nice to get out of the city and see this amazing park. Australia is a beautiful country and I want to see as much of the beautiful land as I can before I go back to the corn fields of Ohio.

initial thoughts

I have always wanted to come to Australia ever since I could remember, mainly because my grandmother was born here and it’s a part of me that I do not know about yet. I did not have much knowledge of Australia before I came here. When I arrived to this wonderful country four weeks ago, the first thing was drive up the Pacific Highway towards Brisbane. The drive and scenery was spectacular – granted I am Cleveland, Ohio, so we do not get to see beautiful highway drives often. Before I arrived to Sydney, I did some beautiful bushwalks up in Queensland and I really enjoyed it. I knew as an exchange student I wanted to take some enjoyable courses at the University. My friend from this Uni suggested Outdoor Education, and I read the class description and it sounded amazing. I do not know much about the Blue Mountains and Royal National Park, but I am really looking forward to these field trips and learning about these places. Australians live a very active lifestyle and I think that this course is going to teach me a lot about the culture in that perspective. I am excited to see more beautiful parts of this incredible country.