Sunrise at the Blue Mountains

Most people that k ow me kbow how much I love sun and moon sets and rises.. or for that matter super starry nights as well..

This weekend I decided I wanted to watch the sunrise at the blue mountains.. most of the summer id been avoiding going to the Blue Mountains because it gets pretty cold up there.... now that summer was over and we're almost past autumn.. I fihfiguefigured id have to suck it up and go now or wait till next summer...

I booked accommodation on friday so the next morning I had no choice to go... but the procrastinator in me just couldnt gwt off her ass out of the bed... so I spent the morning doodling.. and chatting to friends... by 2pm I had told at least 10 people I was going to the blue mountaismountains.. so now it became a matter of eating my own words so I had to get ready and go..

The drive was wonderful... but the sun was shining straight in my eyes on the whole was... I reached Katoomba at about 4.45.. the sunset was at 5.02pm. So I rushed in the hostel and asked what was the best place to watch the sunset.. she pointed me to a direction which I couldnt figure on the map.. damn my direction dyslexia! So I picked the safer bet and drove down to the three sisters. The sunset wasnt really visible at that time.. because from that point it was already past.. but it was beautiful nonetheless.


The next morning I got ready to go and xheck3d out about 20 minutes begore the sunrise.. I thought that would give me plenty of time to drive there and set my tripod up... but I was wrong for two reasons:

1. My car was covered in FROST!!
2. By the time I got the frost off the windows and fot there, all the good spots were taken by keener photographers!


Oh well... I did get a few shots.. and my camera acted up again (so need a new one!). The scenery was heavenly! We were well above the clouds! The mountains looked like floating islands of green lands from some utopian futuristic alien planet like in Avatar!


I had to drive back early and couldn't wait for the sun to get up higher till it came over the horizon. I had signed up for a yoga instructor training where you pledge to provide free yoga training to people and spread the 'real' yoga as used by the ancient Indian sages around the world. The whole way back the sun was shining in my eyes again.. but the drive this time was on the scenic road and more winding and fun!

Cruwee Cove

The last week I was at the Congwong Bay I'd actually intended to get to the Cruwee Cove. But I got there too late.. and I had to return. I came back to the City from the skydive at 11ish, had a long brunch with my friend in Chinatown and said laterz to her at 12:00. I didn't have much else to do because the laundry (which is a giant chore) was already done on yesterday. So I decided to just go back to the Cruwee cove and finish what I'd started. I got off a stop before the last stop and walked to the golf course. The Beach at the Cruwee Cove is very rocky so you can't really get in the water, but it is very scenic. I'm not a huge fan of gettin in the water anyway. Its very cold and windy and all I want is to go places this winter so I may return to them some other time and hopefully the photos will encourage others to explore these not so touristy places as well.

     
It was really windy. I sat near the rocks for a while. It was very peaceful I"d have sat there all day if the wind wasn't blowing my brains away. The waves there are very powerful and I could just sit there watchign the giant splashes all day. The mist from the splatters actually even made rainbows. see if you can spot the rainbow in the shot below.


I walked around a bit before gettin back. The Henry's head is an awesome spot for watching the sunset. Coco and I sat there watching the sun set in the land and planes come to and from the Botany Bay while a industrial chimney kept spewing flames in the backdrop of beautiful blue skies.


I got back to the Congwong bay beach from that hidden bushtrail the father and daughters had unknowingly shown me the last time. The beach is really beautiful and I always wanted to write something in the sand.. I couldn't really think of anything so just drew Miss U =)


I may have put my curiosity to rest by visitin all the places I could walk to at the Cruwee Cove.. But I think I really like the beach and would like going back there with anyone that doesn't mind a bit of a heart pumping walk and a lot of wind and cold.

Congwong Bay

It was 3ish on a Sunday afternoon and it didn't really seem like I was going to get out much but I thought I'd go out just for the sake of adding another post to my blog.. I'd initially intended to actually go to Cruwee Cove.. I think I"m beginning to see a pattern of the places that appeal to me here.. not hard to miss. I completely misread Google Maps in my over confidence of knowing the city.. it said stand C comething and I immediately assumed it to be some other bus station I was quite familiar with... I kinda like this.. the feeling of actually 'knowing' the places and names.. When I arrived here every place was just alien name to me... but I guess I'm beginning to get a hang of a very limited few places here... Could be from my Google maps surfings to pick destinations over the last few weeks too.. who knows.. if I could I'd like to make this 'my' city.

Anyhowz.. I goofed up the bus station and missed the L94 or something which is every half hour.. so I waited at the bus station patiently.. actually passing time was quite a pleasure with the company of good music. Took the 3:38 bus that would arrive at the place around 4:30. I wasn't thrilled of arriving at the place at almost sunset.. but heck I was at the bus station.. I"d come too far to just go back to my desolate room in the house. The 391 goes almost till the end of the Botany Bay. The last stop is called La Perouse.

I got off there and considered walking to the Bare Island. There was an exhibition there with an entry fee onto the island of $2. Here's a photo of the Bare Island taken from near the bus stop:


It was so insanely cold and windy that I just couldn't have been able to stay there anymore so I decided to take a walk to the beach and go where I'd intended to go - The Cruwee Cove. I walked to the end of the Congwong beach and a dad and his two daughters kinda disappeared on a bush trail while I was taking pictures of this steam. I was almost tempted to dip my hand in the water from the stream flowing into the ocean to see if it was sweet (not salty sea water) when I realized it came from a pipe.. ewww!! The pattern in the stream looked really pretty here's a photo of the stream flowing into the sea.


When I got back from there I watched a movie called Gallowalkers where Wesley Snipes rips peoples' heads and spines out. Looking back to the photo after the movie.. the pattern in the water kinda looks like a spine..

It was so obscure I wouldn't have noticed it if it wasn't for them. The trail was not an official path and very rugged. I climbed to the top and considered walking another half hour towards my chosen destination but it was sunset already and I was a little nervous (terrified!) of venturing further on the bush trail. I took another photo of the Bare Island from the bush trail to the Henry point and walked back to the bus stop.


Coco and I waited for a long time for the bus to arrive.. We watched many aeroplanes land on the Sydney airport. I think Cocstar really enjoyed himself on this visit. It was still very cold and he didn't really get much chance to venture out.


The sound of the sea was amazing and very calming. If it wasn't so cold I'd have liked to sit on one of the boulders there watching the waves wash over the sandy rocky shore.