I woke up a bit late, around 9 am. The plan for the day was to visit The Three Sisters in the Blue Mountains. Feeling surprisingly refreshed from the comfortable hostel bed, I got dressed and promptly checked out. After retrieving my belongings from the refrigerator, I headed to the Blue Mountain National Park, conveniently just 1 kilometer away from the hostel. The Blue Mountains Backpackers Hostel offered excellent value for money, and I wholeheartedly recommend it to others.
I parked my car near the lookout and attempted to pay at the parking meter, but it didn’t work despite putting in more than the minimum amount (3.80 AUD). Frustration mounted as I tried again, only to encounter an error that prompted the machine to restart. “For F*ck’ sake, you’ve got to be kidding me!” I exclaimed in frustration. Annoyed, I decided to drive away. Just fifty meters down the road, I found a free parking spot on Forster Road in a residential area. The lookout was only a 3-minute walk from there. I couldn’t fathom why councils insisted on extracting money from tourists in such a manner—I despised it.
Queen Elizabeth Lookout
The platform teemed with tourists, necessitating a wait for my turn to capture photos of The Three Sisters. An aboriginal legend surrounds these rock formations, recounting the tale of Meehni, Wimlah, and Gunnedoo—three sisters from the Katoomba tribe. The story unfolds as the sisters fall in love with three men from the neighboring Nepean tribe. However, tribal law forbade their union, leading the men to initiate a war to claim the sisters. In the midst of the conflict, an elder shielded the sisters by transforming them into stone. Tragically, the elder perished in the battle, leaving the sisters forever petrified, unable to revert to their human form.
Giant Stairway
I ventured around the lookout and discovered various hiking trails available in the Blue Mountains National Park. Opting for a route to the Giant Stairs, I didn’t intend to complete the entire track. The stairs were formidable (998 in total!), and midway down, I made the decision to ascend back up.
While on the initial tier of the Great Stairway, I enjoyed a splendid view of the first rock formation of the Three Sisters, with the other two concealed behind it. Descending the stairs, I passed numerous tourists ascending towards the Queen Elizabeth Lookout. They appeared quite exhausted, sweating, and gasping for air, which I found amusing. Eventually, I reached the small bridge leading to the first rock of the Three Sisters, offering a unique perspective of the formation.
The weather today was phenomenal, and I reveled in the breathtaking views of the valley. Being here was truly awesome. I descended a considerable portion of the seemingly endless stairs, appreciating the remarkable trail the Blue Mountains National Park organization had crafted. It resembled scenes from a movie, absolutely incredible. After ascending back up, I returned to the viewing platform to capture a few final pictures before deciding it was time to depart. A long drive awaited me.
Goulburn Library
Around 1 pm, I departed from Katoomba and headed back in the direction of Sydney. Shortly after, I took a brief pit stop at McDonald’s for a bathroom break but couldn’t resist grabbing a hamburger—it was lunchtime, after all. Post-lunch, I programmed my GPS and steered towards a library along the road to Canberra. It was crucial for me to perform an update on my website now, with approximately 10 travel days’ worth of content to upload. The longer I waited, the more data (pictures and content) would accumulate, making the upload process lengthier.
Approximately two hours later, I reached a quaint town named Goulburn—quite a funny name, I thought, but that was inconsequential. I headed to the Goulburn Mulwaree Library, where I took advantage of their Wi-Fi, thankfully without any time constraints. Using the FTP program Filezilla, I marveled at its incredible efficiency in uploading the content. Discovering how to boost the upload speed added to my delight. Everything proceeded smoothly according to the plan. I shared some pictures on Facebook and formulated a plan for the days ahead.
Tomorrow, my plan was to spend the day in Canberra, and the only thing I needed was a place to sleep afterward. However, on my Wikicamps app, there weren’t many camps around Canberra, and I didn’t want to drive all the way back to Goulburn (100 km north). For the night, I decided to sleep 10 kilometers south of Goulburn at a rest area. The library closed at 5 pm, and fortunately, I had just completed my upload. As I stepped outside, I snapped two pictures of the town—the street where I had parked the car with a view of a church; on the other side of the street was the the Goulburn Mulwaree Library. These small towns were a delight for me, offering everything I needed: toilets, a library, and supermarkets.
After departing from the Goulburn Mulwaree Library, I looked for a gas station. I needed to top up with a small amount of gas; tomorrow, I planned to fill up the tank in Canberra, anticipating that the prices there would likely be more economical than in these small towns. In the remote areas, fuel cost approximately 1.60 AUD per liter, while in larger cities, prices would hover around 1.45-1.50 AUD per liter.
Following the gas station stop, I picked up some snacks at the Woolworths supermarket. Finding the prices a bit high, I strolled outside to explore the Aldi supermarket across the street. During this walk, I exchanged texts with my Australian friend Liam, whom I met in Malaysia. He informed me that he had received a letter from my mother. A while back, I had requested my mom to send my diving license, obtained in Bali, to Liam’s address. Fortunately, the letter had finally arrived today, and I would need it for another country later on.
Another Reststop
Feeling quite cheerful and enthusiastic after my conversation with Liam (whom I planned to visit in a few weeks), I stepped into the Aldi supermarket and purchased some chocolate and crisps. Later, around 6:30 pm, I reached the suburb of the city and made stops at McDonald’s and Subway. Opting for a Subway sandwich for dinner, I then headed to the highway and drove south. After ten kilometers, I reached a rest area conveniently located right next to the highway. While a bit noisy, it didn’t bother me as I discovered during this journey that I am an easy sleeper.
Once I parked the car near the toilets, I arranged the back seat for a comfortable makeshift bed. To create my improvised sleeping space, I used my three pillows. Finally, I retrieved my laptop and a cold coke from the cool box. It was time for an old-fashioned movie night, reminiscent of those back home. I opted to rewatch “Life of Pi,” a great movie that I enjoyed once more, especially since I had gained more knowledge about the Hindu religion. Before eventually drifting off to sleep, I also watched an episode of “How I Met Your Mother.” Unfortunately, I experienced difficulty sleeping tonight as my body readjusted to the uncomfortable car position. Fortunately, it was a one-time challenge for this night.
