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Australia: Katoomba - where forest spirits and magic mushrooms live

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My farewell with Australia happens in the Blue mountains. I cannot leave without going back to this place. (My first encounter with the Blue mountains in the post on Blue mountains - where bliss is a choice ) This time we visit the mountain town of Katoomba. This is a parallel world existing just an hour away from Sydney. In my memory it will basically remain the home of: mountain spirits, forest ghosts, elves, the Forest Santa Claus, magic mushrooms, (surely) some marijuana culture, aboriginal art and hippy communities. Beyond the visible The spirit of the town is what I would imagine the spirit of a mountain town would be in a fairy tale with dwarfs and creatures with a few heads which have appeared after they have gulped a piece of the magic mushroom.  The forest people in Katoomba are somehow different, they have their own irradiance - they radiate freedom, calmness, friendliness. They work in their little ateliers for lamps and woven clothing and one could see they ha

Australia: Blue mountains - where bliss is a choice

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My first encounter with this majestic mountain range, the Blue mountains, starts with the Wentworth park. But why so Blue? The mountains are completely covered in eucalyptus trees, which emit this mystical blue-colored haze that can only be noticed in the distance, hence, giving the name of the Blue mountains. The eucalyptus smell splashes feelings of bliss all over me and makes me fall in love with every breath I take. Equally magical, eucalyptus trees are the natural habitat of the Australian koalas, although we unfortunately do not spot any on the way. It is a heavenly experience as we walk to the Wentworth waterfalls. The plants and flowers in the Wentworth Bush (the Bush concept explained earlier in the post on Airlie Beach - where entertainment is provided by the nature ) are nothing I have ever seen before in my life. I feel as if I am in a sci-fi movie scene, where someone has played with their imagination big time to create such unimaginable vegetation, but what is