NZ 2023 - Ruined Castle (Day 29 of 33)

Link to Day 29's video: https://youtu.be/r7oivSR4R2c

Woke up to the buffet breakfast as purchased. Sadly it is really basic and these are all there is. So I just spammed cereal with milk because that's gotta be the most filling option for food. The drink was disgusting though, some kind of flower, yikes.

Left as soon as I can to start the hike because Australia gets much hotter than New Zealand pretty fast! Hiked to Ruined Castle inside Blue Mountains today. This is the very reason why I decided to spend 2 nights here in Katoomba. 

To be very honest, the hike was much tougher than I expected. Australia and New Zealand are two different beasts. Added with the humidity of Australia, the jungles didn’t seem too fun to bash through, compared to New Zealand’s. There were many times I had to grapple with all 4 limbs just to descend safely because the whole path is muddy and steep.

Still I had a lot of fun today. I was already crazy tired 10 minutes into Golden Stairway, but I pushed on and managed to reach Ruined Castle. On the way there, there were a lot of opportunities to take profile-picture worthy photos! Like wow, the hills and mountains stretches beyond the eyes can see!

It was a nice view and plenty of spaces for me to perform my rock climbing moves. Didn’t spend too much time there though. Originally wanted to move ahead to Mount Solitary, but got news from fellow hikers that the path is blocked. Shag because the route from Ruined Castle there is twice as challenging as the one I took from Golden Stairs.

So I made a u-turn and headed back to Katoomba. On the way back, I took as many pictures as I can because I don't know how soon I can return to Australia to try this trek again. I might just bring crazy friends the next time!

I’m glad I returned to Katoomba early because it started raining heavily once I reached civilisation. Had to sprint my remaining way back to YHA hostel. The final sprint was a 700m uphill, super damn shag. But wow legit stroke of luck this one.

Didn’t shower the dirty rain away because the shops were about to close at 5pm and I really wanted to check out Katoomba town. Walked around a few antique shops and wow, amazing!!! But still nothing caught my eye for souvenirs. Drank a toffee milk tea from a milk tea shop for AUD$7.50 because I miss milk tea a lot.

Then settled dinner by the same Fish N Chips store yesterday. They don't have have a proper name, just Blue Mountains Fish N Chips. Their fish is so good that I ordered an extra piece today for total AUD$27! Worth!!! Also got more water for tomorrow's long train ride back to Sydney Central!

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