Blue Moutains and Am I a Good Traveller?

I feel as if this trip to Australia and New Zealand has helped me to develop into an all-around better, more efficient, and more independent traveler. Throughout our entire vacation, I have succeeded in travelling quickly and efficiently from place to place. Whether it be planes, buses, or walking, I have developed into a traveller who feels ready and able to travel more independently. I have become closer to most of the other people on this trip in order to make for a more pleasant experience for everyone. While travelling, I have had no major issues and have proven I am able to travel on a more individual/small-group basis. My ability to become more social with my fellow group members shows that I am willing to do things to make travelling easier.

Throughout the trips to both New Zealand and Australia, I have continuously demonstrated my ability to travel in a small group and act more as a leader. In my smaller group, I've shown that I'm able to travel more independently without supervision. This ability shows that I would use my good travelling skills in order to travel more as an independent person. Though the chaperones, guides, and drivers are all very helpful and make everything go smoothly, I feel confident that I could manage many of the tasks alone or in a much smaller group. I have already done many things on this trip independently and feel sure that I could take that to the next level. I hope that everything I acquired on this trip I am able to take back with me on future travels.

Today was another eventful day from start to finish. We woke up early to catch a bus that would take us to the magnificent scenery that the Blue Mountains held in store for our small group of nine. On the way to the Blue Mountains, we made a stop at Olympic Park, where we briefly got to see where Sydney held the Olympics 11 years ago. We then continued our bus ride to the Blue Mountains, and got off at our first stop led by our tour guide Diego. The long hike down the first mountain was definitely worth the energy, as we saw some of the most beautiful scenery I've seen in my entire life. Around every turn, we saw a new waterfall or breathtaking view over the edge of a cliff. The hike down was wet as it rained the ENTIRE time, and by the end of the day I was soaked. But the trip down was a fun one, accompanied by laughs and sarcastic complaints. After stopping at a small cafe for lunch, we travelled to the second mountain that we were to hike. Just like the first one, we were greeted by amazing views everywhere we went. The only difference was that this time we did not have to endure the strenuous hike back up the mountain as we took the world's steepest train back to the top. We then re-boarded the bus and travelled to our final destination of the day, a cliff side where we got a magnificent view of the forest and river below us. To cap off the day, we had the luxury of seeing a wild kangaroo before going back to Sydney to have dinner with the rest of our group.