Thursday, December 21 Blue Mountains to Grenfel - End of Times?

     Did the Mayans have the International Date Line figured out?  If we make it to the 22nd here in Oz we'll let you know, and those of you in the States can breath easier.

      We had planned to have a quick cereal breakfast, do a short hike, then head to the Outback, hoping to get 600 km under out belt.  But the short hike to see the Glow Worm Tunnel turned out to be a 9 km hike up onto the plateau that ended up being one of the best experiences we've had yet in Australia.

But first, an ant photo for David.  This is a Bulldog Ant.  She has long, powerful
mandibles and a stinger like a wasp.  Luckily, we were unmolested by her tribe.

Our walk began with a stream crossing

Then we walked through a tall gum-tree forest ...

... and through a cave

     The GWT carried railroad tracks to the ghost town of Newnes back when it used to be a oil shale mining site.  The rails have been pulled up, and the 800 meter long tunnel has a bend in it that produces complete darkness half-way through.  On the ceilings and walls are thousands of small fly larva that have a tiny globe of bioluminescence at the end of their body, which attracts small insects to long strands of sticky filament.  Once caught, the larva reel the prey in like a fisherman.
     In the dark the blueish dots of light look like star constellations,  eerie and beautiful at the same time.  Kristy will post photos on her blog when she gets a chance.

Entering Glow Worm Tunnel

These are not the glow worms, although they are quite luminscent

Out the other end of the tunnel, it looks like a lost world

A cave troll has followed Kristy into the light!

      Our short hike ended up taking nearly four hours, but it was worth it.  We got into the LC and drove out of the Blue Mountains and onto the Tablelands, rolling and agricultural and beautiful, as it is all the way up to Queensland.  We had a late lunch break at a park with fun playground equipment.

Looks more like a bandicoot to me

A race to the top!

     We drove a couple more hours west, did some grocery shopping, and stopped for the night at campground with showers and everything!  Kelly and Dan had the dinner rotation and fixed tuna salad pita wraps, which were expeditious, nutritious, and delicious.