Oz: Blue Mountains

The Blue Mountains are about a two-hour drive from Sydney.  Although it is accessible by train, bus and guided tour, we decided renting a car for the day was the most expedient.  It took a while to get used to driving in Sydney because, apart from driving on the "wrong" side of the road, one also had to get used to the narrow driving lanes, both in town and on the highway.  For us, this was the "rehearsal" for our extended driving tour in New Zealand.  Katoomba is the nearest town but we headed straight for Echo Point from where you can see the panorama with the Three Sisters in the foreground.  There are many hiking trails in the area, including a short one to the Three Sisters.  Scenic World is a park in the area with two cable cars.  It is a little touristy but a walk in the tropical forest is worth the price of entry as the trails are well-marked and points of interest clearly explained.


I was struck by the resemblance between this landscape and some of what we saw in China when we were in the Zhangjiajie National Park in Hunan Province.  I have included two photos below for comparison.

Blue Mountains, New South Wales, Australia

Zhangjiajie, China

Zhangjiajie, China

Blue Mountains, NSW

And doesn't this remind you of the Grand Canyon?

Pair of Sulphur-crested Cockatoos sharing a meal and the great view from their vantage point

The Three Sisters are over 3000 feet above sea level, but below it, is a tropical forest.

You can see the canopy from above.

The canopy from below.

It is a steep dive for the cable car

Giant Eucalyptus tree in the park

Giant termite mound, apparently home to a million termites.   According to the signage, surrounding it for hundreds of metres is a network of tunnels that the termites used to bring food back to the nest.

View of waterfall from the cable car

The Three Sisters at dusk

Oz: Around Sydney

The Royal Botanic Gardens is a short walk from the city centre and is a great place to see some local birds and trees, not to mention being a beautiful setting for photos .  It reportedly has a million specimens on site.  The Tropical Centre within the gardens is worth a visit for its collection of exotic Australian plants. It reminded me very much of the Conservatory of Flowers in Golden Gate Park, San Francisco.

Take a look at this tree below and see how many white ibis you can see.

A closer look at the big bird

This photo of the kookaburra perching on a pine tree would make a good Christmas card.

An unusual sight for us - bats flying around in the day time and hanging from the tree.

Me, Jane!  Not!  We were lucky to bump into a video shoot for this Australian singer "Ashlea" who would soon be making her North American debut.  But this really gives you an idea of how lush parts of the garden could be.

It is obvious why this plant is called "Beehive Ginger".  You can see it in the Tropic Centre (below).

Sydney sits on a submerged coastline so it is surrounded by many harbours and inlets.  One of the best ways to see the Sydney skyline is to take the ferry to Taronga Zoo or to Manley.  You will be able to see the Sydney Opera House from all angles and then look back across the waters at Sydney from the Zoo, which sits atop a hill.

I still have fond memories of my first koala bear toy.  This is like a childhood dream come true - my first sighting of a real live koala.  A special area was set up to allow people to hold the koala in their arms for a photo, for a price of course.

The large Cassowary, one of the last remaining endemic flightless birds on the continent -

Perky little fella that might be some kind of turtle dove -

And of course, the kangaroo

This peacock strutted back and forth in front of the mirrored window showing off - maybe he thought he was seeing another bird in the mirror!

The ferry to Manley will take you under the Harbour Bridge so you get a harbour tour as well as a coastline tour in addition to visiting the bustling seaside town.  Watching the surf seems to be a favoured pastime as all the beachside restaurants were full when we arrived in late afternoon.

We ended up in a quiet Thai restaurant overlooking the beach away from the crowds.  Great food too!

Going Local

I am not finished with Sydney yet but thought I'd take a detour to show you something local.  We have seen some pretty spectacular sights on our travels abroad but sometimes these are right at our front door, or quite close to it.  These are photos from a hike we went on last weekend - an hour and a half away near Hamilton - people would go to work every day driving that distance!

We started at Webster Falls, hiked along the river bed then went uphill and reached Tews Falls, from which it was just a short hike back to the car at Webster Falls.  The loop took us all of 3 hours.  Water and rocks, I've found, are the key ingredients to making a hike interesting.

Webster Falls, considered one of the top 10 falls in Ontario

Waterfalls make you do crazy things

Tews Falls

A classic U-shaped valley - glaciers were here a long time ago!

Oz: Sydney the city

Sydney was a surprisingly walkable city although it also had great surface transit on which we depended for most of the four days we spent in town.  Our hotel was strategically located close to Chinatown and that was where we started off our sightseeing.  We were pleasantly surprised by the high standard of Chinese food here.  The proximity to the sea clearly placed it at an advantage for fresh seafood although this had no apparent effect on the steep prices.  But cost of living in general was quite high here, so we were thankful that at least it was money well-spent.  Restaurant meals were overwhelmingly delicious wherever we ate.

Chinatown portal "Four seas - one family"

Humongous abalone in shop window

Delicious fresh abalone and oyster on my plate

Sunday market at The Rocks, the historic area where Sydney began

Fresh fruit at The Rocks market

The famous Paddy's market

The ornate Queen Victoria Building with a shopping mall inside

The Edge of the Trees sculpture in front of the Museum which sat on the site of the first encounter between the original Gadigal people of Sydney and the first British exiles to arrive here

An eclectic mix of architectural styles in downtown Sydney

It was spring and the jacaranda trees were in bloom

St. Mary's Cathedral and the Art Deco fountain in the square beside it commemorating the Australian-French alliance during the Great War

Sydney Harbour Bridge, climbable for the young at heart

Awesome panorama of the Sydney skyline