The Great Blue Mountain Fly Adventure

Well with Sydney a distant memory, and twangs of longing firmly twinging in our stomachs, we head for the Blue Mountains, which I thought looked more green, but I guess when it comes the time for me to become a little more significant than I am now and find myself in a position to name things I'll probably feel more confident to argue that point a little more strongly.
Anyway the truth of the matter, given a bit of a timetabling error on our parts we will be staying in a Sydney for another night after all, so the twangs and the twinges will soon be eased, and besides we couldn't turn down the chance to have a night out at Sydney's only Latin American dancing club/tapas resteraunt hybrid could we!
We're staying in Katooba, around 2 hours outside Sydney by train, or if your on our train, 24hours in the presence of screaming babies(time relative to feeling, not actual time). We've booked into the Central Blue Mountain backpackers. Our first choice the YHA was full so in moments when you can't rely on that trusty Hostel International symbol, you've just got to go with a bit of luck. All looked good it's a newly built facility, boasting close proximity to the town, with all mod cons and probably more importantly it was the only hostel in town with any vacancies - Post Katoomba I now understand why!
I remember when I first pitched up in halls at universtity, I was shocked to later discover that the accomodation buildings were modelled on Swedish prisons. Perhaps given the rowdy nature of students I can understand the need for sealing doors and mobilised cut off walls, but at the time it seemed a little extreme, not to mention my unease at the evening tazering before dinner. In the same way to discover that your hostel used to be a mental institution also caused a feeling of concern. Fair enough you think, what the building used to be doesn't really play too much relevance to the new owners, well it does if they don't change anything! Oh yes! still the medical smell, still the clinical white appearance, still the ramps for pushing trolleys up, still the signs, still the women behind reception handing out small cups of pills. Couple this with, guess what the company next door is? A funeral directors!
Two days we were stying in the the Central Backpackers, each day we left early in the morning and didn't get back till late at night. I'll tell you in a small town of 800 or so, finding things to occupy you for 2 days requires a large degree of creativity.
First day easy enough, there is a beatiful nature trail throught the rainforest which starts with the steepest vertical train ride in the world, then finishes with a wonderful cable car ride over the canopy. A quick pint, a bit of a meal then that's your lot, 1 day done.
Day 2 - given that we've already done the attractions of Katoomba, a little harder this one. But we've got a rabbit up our sleeves! It was pissing down on day one and the clouds were really low. This made it virtually impossible to see the wonderful 3 sisters( 3 free standing rock formations) so we can try and do that. But on day 2 although it has stopped raining, the clouds are still really low and it's not looking overly encouraging.
We get of the bus to discover to our disappointment that they still are not visible, but to our greater horror, we've stepped onto the set of the SWARM. God almighty! there was no escape your stuck on a viewing point with relatively no shelter, fly after fly landing on your face, back, legs, trying to enter your ears and your nose. The efforts of waving a magazine in a fan like action not working, the efforts of around 100 people trying to wave a magazine in a fan like action both comical and not to mention a little scary given the repercusions of the butterfly effect. Things I learned from my time in Katoomba, Australian cork hats are not a comedy item but are in fact incredibly practical, if you plan to take over a hostel from a mental institution for heaven sake! change the decor and flys stop being irritating and start being scary when the group together in teams of around 200 and create a living backpack!