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Fashion Statement of the Century
Oct. 8th, 2005 11:12 amWell, I'm back at home, relaxing after an incredibly tiring couple of days. The ASC group went on a trip to the Jenolan Caves, a cave system up in the Blue Mountains. The first day was pretty light. We stopped at a scenic area in the Blue Mountains and wandered the trails. Then we had an amazing barbeque. Barbeques here are different from the states... instead of hamburgers and hotdogs we get chicken kabobs and sausages. One of the girls said something about missing cheeseburgers and one of the Australians who was with us said "That's not a barbeque! That's takeout." ::sigh:: poor deprived Australians. Still, it was great.
Then we got back on the road for a few more hours and drove to the caves, themselves. We were staying in a backpackers hostel which was really very comfortable. We ate dinner and then went on a late night tour of the caves. It was beautiful. We went through some of the really ornate caves, the ones with the most crystal growth. I had a hard time getting photos because the flash drained the color out of the surroundings and it was too dark to easily get pictures without using the flash, but I'm happy with the ones I managed to get. We walked through the caves for over two hours before resurfacing for tea (I swear... they have it 3 times a day) and then bed.
Yesterday was the real test, though. We went adventure caving, complete with harnesses, helmets and headlamps (yay alliteration). My friend Julie was freaking out... she has a fear of hights, a fear of the dark, and fear of being underground. It's not really claustraphobia... she just couldn't stand the thought of the whole mountain being on top of her. Poor thing.
We had to repel down into the cave, which is not an experience I ever want to repeat (I slipped and hit the wall twice even when following the directions they gave us), but after that it was pretty fun. We were crawling through all these tiny holes that didn't look like a child should fit through them, let alone a group of adults. And we had to squirm through a long s-curve at the very end, and then slide through crevices until we reached one of the caves that had been developed for touring. I wouldn't want to do it again, but it was fun. Today I'm sore from all the bumps and bruises, but it was worth it. It's good to relax, though.
For those who want to see some of the pictures from the night tour, I'll put a few in a cut. I have pictures from the adventure caving, but not on my camera. I was afraid it would get damaged, so I shared with Julie (who survived quite well, by the way).
( Read more... )
Then we got back on the road for a few more hours and drove to the caves, themselves. We were staying in a backpackers hostel which was really very comfortable. We ate dinner and then went on a late night tour of the caves. It was beautiful. We went through some of the really ornate caves, the ones with the most crystal growth. I had a hard time getting photos because the flash drained the color out of the surroundings and it was too dark to easily get pictures without using the flash, but I'm happy with the ones I managed to get. We walked through the caves for over two hours before resurfacing for tea (I swear... they have it 3 times a day) and then bed.
Yesterday was the real test, though. We went adventure caving, complete with harnesses, helmets and headlamps (yay alliteration). My friend Julie was freaking out... she has a fear of hights, a fear of the dark, and fear of being underground. It's not really claustraphobia... she just couldn't stand the thought of the whole mountain being on top of her. Poor thing.
We had to repel down into the cave, which is not an experience I ever want to repeat (I slipped and hit the wall twice even when following the directions they gave us), but after that it was pretty fun. We were crawling through all these tiny holes that didn't look like a child should fit through them, let alone a group of adults. And we had to squirm through a long s-curve at the very end, and then slide through crevices until we reached one of the caves that had been developed for touring. I wouldn't want to do it again, but it was fun. Today I'm sore from all the bumps and bruises, but it was worth it. It's good to relax, though.
For those who want to see some of the pictures from the night tour, I'll put a few in a cut. I have pictures from the adventure caving, but not on my camera. I was afraid it would get damaged, so I shared with Julie (who survived quite well, by the way).
( Read more... )
