Most of us today went by train to north to the Blue Mountains just outside of Katoomba (those who stayed behind went to the Maritime Museum and to the Botanical Gardens). Both groups walked well more than five kilometers today and will no doubt feel it in the morning.
Katoomba is a charming little town lined with shops and cafes on the way to the Blue Mountains. After bush walking through the national park, we broke off for lunch and I stopped at a little cafe with only six tables in it most. I had a ham, cheese, tomato and pineapple sandwich. It was delicious!
The Blue Mountains themselves are simply stunning and breath-taking. Mountains. Forests. Waterfalls. What more could you want? It was well worth the climbing down some 900 steps. You'll see what I mean once I'm able to post pictures.
The Australians continue to be very warm and hospitable and seem genuinely glad that so many pilgrims have come. More pilgrims, of course, continue to pour into the city with each passing hour and we've done well thus far to avoid most of them. That all will end tomorrow.
In the morning, I will travel with one of our pilgrims (who'll be a server at the Papal Mass Saturday morning when His Holiness consecrates the altar for the Cathedral) to collect our credentials. He's not yet 18 and will need a chaperone to arrive at the Cathedral for the Mass; I hope to be that chaperone. We'll see how it goes.
Tomorrow afternoon His Eminence George Cardinal Pell will celebrate the opening Mass for World Youth Day 2008.
More to come.
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