Around about......
Well Tuesday morning we headed to the hills. The Blue Mountains lie about 150km West of Sydney and are a favourite haunt for Sydneysiders trying to escape the stress of city life and foreign tourists alike. The main attraction being that they don't consist of tree-lined arid fields. The mountains appear blue through the moisture in the air which, due to the high concentration of eucalyptus trees in the area, contain eucalyptus oil making the air and environment appear with a blue sheen.
We stayed at Katoomba YHA which was a fantastic place and very easy going. The air up there is very fresh and when we arrived we took the walk to the Giants Staircase down past the three sisters (three huge rock pillars) into the canyon below. The mountains are more just high ground with huge canyons eroded through them. The towns are actually built on top and the attractions are down below.
Anyway we climbed down the 900 steps, walked along the side of the canyon for 3km then got the steepest railway in the world (52 degrees) back to the top. We then wandered along the clifftop watching kokatoos and parakeets buzzing around and squacking.
The next day we took the bus to Blackheath and walked back down into the Grand Canyon. This canyon was much tighter and the track was carved out of the limestone sides and just above where the canyon disappeared into the blackness below. After a tough climb to the top we were presented with another amazing view out over the mountains and the tree covered valley below. We walked on and passed a little lizard, the bridal veil falls (a very small stream the sprinkles down over the cliff to the valley floor some 300m below) and on the the bus for the trip back. The train ride home was embelished by an amazing thunder cloud, lit orange and pink by the setting sun, towering over the city.
Next day, Thursday, I went to Taronga Zoo. A ferry across, a cable car to the top and then an amazing selection of home-grown and exotic foreign species from koalas and platapus to lions and tigers. There were a few thousand school children there to accompany me too as they are on their easter holidays. I thought some of them were going to explode with excitement as they toured the snakes and lizards. The highlight had to be the charismatic meer cats and when they stand on their back legs to get a good look out..........aw they're so cute. I need help.
Next day off to see an old school buddy of ours who lives up the coast in Wyong. Wyong is 2 hours away on the train, at home that would seem a bit of a trek but here it's just up the road and it's only 12 dollars return (about 5 pounds).
Anyway Martin and his five week old son William took us to the Australian reptile centre where we saw some aligators, crocodiles, extremely active koalas and extremely dosile kangaroos which were wandering around the picnic area and quite happy to be stroked like a dog (the kangaroos that is). After a tour of Martin's local surf beach and his huge house we headed home.
Back to NZ tomorrow, the weather there is pretty similar to here now as it's dropped to the low twenties here. We also need to change our flights for coming home. We'll be returning on June 6th. Strangely enough a football tournament in Germany kicks off on the 9th, pure coincidence I'm sure.
Oh and we do continue to meet our fair share of nutters and knuckle-brains. Two gibbering idiots on the train to Katoomba no less and one guy who came into the Chinese in Katoomba and sat down to simply insult and annoy the waiters between belches and mutterings. Still on the bright side I'm sure he'd have been too drunk to notice how funny his soup tasted.
Just to sum up how commercialised this country is, we were watching the 'football' (rugby league) last night and after 40 minutes it wasn't just 'half-time' it was 'holden half-time' and was referred to as such by all the commentators thoughout.
New Zealand may be 'backward' as it's been suggested by some people we've met here but atleast it's not Australia. Now where's that airport........
We stayed at Katoomba YHA which was a fantastic place and very easy going. The air up there is very fresh and when we arrived we took the walk to the Giants Staircase down past the three sisters (three huge rock pillars) into the canyon below. The mountains are more just high ground with huge canyons eroded through them. The towns are actually built on top and the attractions are down below.
Anyway we climbed down the 900 steps, walked along the side of the canyon for 3km then got the steepest railway in the world (52 degrees) back to the top. We then wandered along the clifftop watching kokatoos and parakeets buzzing around and squacking.
The next day we took the bus to Blackheath and walked back down into the Grand Canyon. This canyon was much tighter and the track was carved out of the limestone sides and just above where the canyon disappeared into the blackness below. After a tough climb to the top we were presented with another amazing view out over the mountains and the tree covered valley below. We walked on and passed a little lizard, the bridal veil falls (a very small stream the sprinkles down over the cliff to the valley floor some 300m below) and on the the bus for the trip back. The train ride home was embelished by an amazing thunder cloud, lit orange and pink by the setting sun, towering over the city.
Next day, Thursday, I went to Taronga Zoo. A ferry across, a cable car to the top and then an amazing selection of home-grown and exotic foreign species from koalas and platapus to lions and tigers. There were a few thousand school children there to accompany me too as they are on their easter holidays. I thought some of them were going to explode with excitement as they toured the snakes and lizards. The highlight had to be the charismatic meer cats and when they stand on their back legs to get a good look out..........aw they're so cute. I need help.
Next day off to see an old school buddy of ours who lives up the coast in Wyong. Wyong is 2 hours away on the train, at home that would seem a bit of a trek but here it's just up the road and it's only 12 dollars return (about 5 pounds).
Anyway Martin and his five week old son William took us to the Australian reptile centre where we saw some aligators, crocodiles, extremely active koalas and extremely dosile kangaroos which were wandering around the picnic area and quite happy to be stroked like a dog (the kangaroos that is). After a tour of Martin's local surf beach and his huge house we headed home.
Back to NZ tomorrow, the weather there is pretty similar to here now as it's dropped to the low twenties here. We also need to change our flights for coming home. We'll be returning on June 6th. Strangely enough a football tournament in Germany kicks off on the 9th, pure coincidence I'm sure.
Oh and we do continue to meet our fair share of nutters and knuckle-brains. Two gibbering idiots on the train to Katoomba no less and one guy who came into the Chinese in Katoomba and sat down to simply insult and annoy the waiters between belches and mutterings. Still on the bright side I'm sure he'd have been too drunk to notice how funny his soup tasted.
Just to sum up how commercialised this country is, we were watching the 'football' (rugby league) last night and after 40 minutes it wasn't just 'half-time' it was 'holden half-time' and was referred to as such by all the commentators thoughout.
New Zealand may be 'backward' as it's been suggested by some people we've met here but atleast it's not Australia. Now where's that airport........
posted by PeterZ at 8:19 PM
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