The long trek back.

It was one thing to hike down to The Glow Worm Cave. However, we
none of us quite realised the exhaustion of climbing back up the hilly
track to the vehicles.

The afternoon sun got quite hot, making the conditions very humid.

The senior members were a little slower than the young. As the week
progressed though, we got reports of nearly everyone being tired or sore
from it all. 6ks of effort.

 A pause before the walk back. 

 This little rustic bridge marks the direction of the Newnes walk. 

 On either side of the bridge can be seen old railway tracks. 

 Lush vegetation here, even on logs. 

 Finally arriving safely at our wood-fired pizza restaurant at Hartley. 

The general comment of the day was the opposing styles of our twins. 

One dressed for comfort and practicality, the other stylish and in activewear.

 Pizza, coffees, wine, cider, and to finish, Gelato. My flavour was Tim Tam.

The birthday lad, 60 years young. 

The trek to The Glow Worm Cave cont.

So many pictures, and my son Ben's to see too.

Apparently, he was able to capture some images of russet coloured, fleeting small birds.
They danced and spread their tails like fantails.

 So many majestic escarpments, and valleys. 

 Many a waterfall after the rains.

 Small points of interest like this fungi.

 Bec and Mike. 

 Colorful lichen on rock faces.

 Ben meets a local resident. 

 Smile for the camera!

 Sarah watches Ben doing his photography. 

  Many ferns and treeferns, especially as we neared the cave, where it was lower and damper. 

 A riveted relic - a large steel pipe.

 Entering The Glow Worm Cave, cut out from rock, a curve in the middle. 

As the light does not pass this bend, it is an ideal habitat for The Glow Worms, 

which live there. Little dotted patterns of light are scattered across the walls and above the ceiling. 

 It takes some concentration to be sure footed, inside the floor is rugged 

and uneven. There are many sections of pooled water. 

 Exiting the cave at last. A little glen outside, a waterfall and this humorous sign. 

If you still had the energy you could keep trekking to Newnes.

Glow Worm Trek continued

The path started innocently enough, but then became more rugged, with
stepping around rocks, logs, and wet sections.

  A vista with the distinctive blue haze. 

 The Pagoda formations, these were quite high. 

 Old railway relics across deep chasms. 

 The trail now had steep gullies and valleys one side. 

 A smaller Pagoda.

 We were puzzling about the roadside masonry, convict or later company built? Still quite old. 

 A hurdle to clamber over, this gate. Mike on the right had studied

Environmental Earth Science and Geology. 

 The rainwater runoff had left puddles which were this rich saffron colour, due maybe 

to tannins from the surrounding vegetation. 

A sign of things to come. 

Chris' Birthday trek

Sunday was hubby Chris' 60th birthday. To mark the occasion
10 of us, including all of the family, went to The Blue Mountains
for the day.

First stop was a pie bakery lunch, at Pie In The Sky.

We had two main objectives, to see The Gloworm Cave, and have
a pizza dinner afterwards.

It was a challenging and quite exhausting hike for some of us, but
the experience and photos were worth it.

Sorry for some blurry photos, I was breathless a lot! So probably
not steady with the camera.

 A concern, a sign indicates a longer detour and steeper walk in.

 Chris alongside one of the 4WDs, well muddied from a rutted and rugged drive in.

 The party descend. Ben has his impressive camera with him.

 Luckily, within a few metres Victor's hiking boot gives way whole sole, so Mike 

runs back to get areplacementt pair. Better then than half way.

 Our Bec - she has all the right and good gear. 

 The diverse vegetation was interesting, and the colours and textures were lovely. 

 A sunny day finally after weeks of rain. 

 Just to prove I was there my blue gumboots. Not hiking boots, but I was glad as the trail was quite wet in parts, and lots of puddles. So I wouldn't be spending time a the end drying boots. 

 A reflected blue sky on a wet portion of track. 

 Starting to see large rock escarpments and features. 

 Interesting grasses, and this Marginal, as well as a colourful Banksia with dew.