Backtrack to canyoning

Before we left for our dear Lady Elliot, we went canyoning in the blue mountains. Canyoning is something that I didn't quite understand but thought it sounded fun. We arrive in Katoomba at 8am sharp to get fitted in 5 mm thick wetsuits, helmets and large backpacks that double as flotation devices. Our guide has rock climbing gear on in addition to his pack and we pile into a beat up truck for the 90 mi. drive into the wilderness. Once we arrived in the literal middle of nowhere - the last logging truck was 15 min earlier on the dirt road, we load up and bushwalk a mile to the canyon.

The canyon itself is still unclear as we slog our way through a narrow river path, stepping in the 50 degree water. There is something so liberating about walking through the stream and not trying to avoid it to stay dry. We come to our first rock slide. It's fun and we stay relatively dry. It's the next slide into deep water where we get dunked and feel just how cold this water is. It's exhilarating. We continue through the canyon, walking, climbing, sliding and jumping through narrow crevasses into deep inky pools. It's so much fun, so long as you don't think about it too much. Looking up, the canyons are narrow and tower above us in earth tones and gentle curves.

The canyons are truly beautiful, when I remember to look up. As we emerge from the first big canyon back into the forest, it feels like we have time traveled back to a more pristine time when nature was in her full glory. Big rock formations and giant ferns are everywhere. We stop for lunch and the kids are freezing, even in thick wetsuits. We push on but turn back before the end of the second canyon as it's clear the kids are no longer having fun as Mia almost breaks into tears as she looks at the inky black water that she is suppose to jump into again.

Rob and I simultaneously feel like terrible parents and are selfishly giddy from the natural playground. As soon as we emerge back into the sun and forest, we strip out of the wetsuits and into dry clothes and the kids are happy again, already describing the experience as the "fifty foot drops" and "ice bergs in the water.'

Mission accomplished. Videos to come soon.

 

 

 

 

 

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