We headed out into the Blue Mountains for a gentle day walk in April 2005 – from Narrowneck peninsula near Katoomba out to the Ruined Castle and Mt Solitary. You can see them above – Mt Solitary is the big broad lump right in the middle – the Ruined Castle is the small lump about 3/4 of the way over (above the “S”), and Narrowneck is the bit on the right. This was the first introduction for our new Austrian postdoc Roland to the Australian bush – i think he was expecting more platypus…

Although overcast, it was a nice day for it and a pleasant time was had by all. Highlights would be the great rock formations at the Ruined Castle, an awesome lunch spot at the far end of Mt Solitary, and the *enormous* leech that Jacqui plucked off Joel’s back before it sunk its sucker into his neck…