Hiking The Royal National Park with my Outdoor Education class was a really cool experience. It was a rainy and gloomy day. However I think I preferred it to be rainy for a couple of reasons. First off, the river crossing at the beginning of our walk didn’t seem so bad, because getting wet was a given under such weather conditions. Secondly I think my rain-tolerance has increased drastically after the hike. We got rained on so much during the hike that regular Sydney rain doesn’t seem to affect me now, and I care less about getting a little wet.
During our walk we crossed a beach (I believe it was the Wattamolla Beach), and saw thousands of Pacific Man’o’War, or Bluebottle jellyfish laying on the sand. I (accidentally) ended up stepping on some, which makes a loud pop sound. Besides the seaweed and the beached jellyfish, one noticeable aspect of the beach was the amount of rubbish on the shore. While the beach relatively not very dirty, the amount of garbage that the waves gathered on the beach was still quite a bit. This reminded about how delicate ecosystems can be, and how something like throwing a bottle or a plastic bag in the ocean can have a drastic impact.
Overall, I have thoroughly enjoyed every second that I spent immersed in the nature at RNP, even though (and perhaps because of) the rainy weather. I feel like doing the walk in a group, I got a chance to meet some new people, and bond with the people I had already known. I am absolutely looking forward to the Blue Mountains trip this Friday April 28th!!