DAY 4! The end was near! A final 8 kilometres that separated us and CIVILISATION: toilets, coffee, cider, junk food and all the vices of our daily lives.
We were so motivated to get home that we managed to set off around 8 in the morning, leaving a campsite full of other hikers still having their breakfast behind. And for the fourth day in a row, the weather was cool and sunny. Not a single cloud to be seen in the sky.
There was a mild uphill walk just after we left the campsite, but by this stage, this felt like a walk in the park for us.
We powered on, thinking about coffee, pub lunches and pear cider in that order. BURP.
And soon enough, we found ourselves passing the 5kms to go sign just before the Jenolan Caves Cottages.
From thereon, it was a steep descent down to the Jenolan Caves House, the end of the Six Foot Track. When I wasn’t worried about tumbling over the end of the track into the steep valley below and remembered to look up, the views were stunning.
Once we made it to the bottom of the hill, we veered left and soon found ourselves walking past the spectacular Carlotta’s Arc and the Blue Lake, named after the daughter of General Adams, the man who first surveyed this area.
Suddenly, there were tourists everywhere, escaping to the mountains for the ANZAC Day long weekend.
People! People holding coffees! People holding coffees and eating deep fried food!
The finishing line was oh-so tantalisingly close.
Et voila! The El Dorado of our hike, Jenolan Caves House - a Germanic looking, historical hotel tucked away in the rocky hills, surrounded by caves full of stalactites and mites.
We all crashed onto the nearest chair when we finally made it past the finishing point. There was a mad rush of activity within the group, as we all dashed off to purchase coffees like caffeine-deprived fiends, and book ourselves a tour of the caves. It was another half hour before we all realised none of us took an “after” shot of our trek. So it was back on with our packs as we all headed to the end point of the track to document our success:
45KMs, 4 days in wilderness, WE DID IT!
A quick lunch later, we headed off on our tour of the Chifley Cave, one of the larger caves in Jenolan as the park ranger explained to us the formation of the caves and the amazing power of dripping water.
A rock known as Madonna and Child, apparently.
A rock named Bacon.
At the end of the tour, we drove back to Katoomba to pick up the other car, and then to Leura nearby for a greasy but satisfying second lunch. With that, it was time to head back to Canberra.
But we couldn’t go without a quick stop at Echo Point look out to say hi to the Three Sisters - an iconic rock formation in the Blue Mountains.
By that time, it was late afternoon, a distant fog was rolling in. The autumn air was still warm, and everywhere we looked, happy tourists were posing for snaps.
And as beautiful as it was, we simply didn’t fit in. We stank and itched everywhere, haven’t taken off our hiking boots for 4 days, or pooped into a proper toilet bowl.
So without a glance backwards, we headed off to Canberra, our adoptive home, eager for that amazing first shower back from the wilderness.
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