Blue Mountains, Sydney, Australia

About an hour away from Sydney and easily accessible by train are the Blue Mountains, with their treks for all levels of fitness. I was not fully prepared for the splendor of the first trek we did, which winded its way around a waterfall that seemed to be layers upon layers of smaller waterfalls. I took many pictures, most of which do not do justice to the breathtaking views.

The trek was a relatively steep descent, with many pools in which you could jump to refresh yourself. If the descent was long, the ascent was plain arduous. This is I believe one of the hardest trek I have done, because whatever distance you cover downhill, you must climb again. At one point I was convinced my heart would pound its way out of my chest.

 (Not for those afraid of heights...)

The views were well worth it though.

 (Another waterfall picture, just because.)

We then moved on to see the Three Sisters and my host in Sydney proceeded to tell me of the legend behind them. Once again I was amazed at the heights (it was a long way down from the view point…) and vastness before me. 

(The rock formation called The Three Sisters)

There seem to be many versions of the tale which you can find online, but this is the one I heard :

Three beautiful sisters, Meehni, Wimlah and Gunnedoo had fallen in love with three brothers from another tribe, yet tribal law wouldn't allow them to marry. The brothers decided to capture the three sisters, which led to a tribal war.

As the three sisters were in grave danger, the witch doctor from their tribe turned the three sisters to stone to protect them. However, he  was killed before he could revert the spell and the magic bone used for casting was lost. People for years upon years have searched for the bone to reverse the spell, but it was never found. (Marika and I, somewhere along the waterfall trail)