Blue Mountains Wednesday

Don't tell him about that kangaroo jerky in the duty-free shop at the airport.
see all photos »

Blue Mountains day – I wanted another day in Sydney but getting out of town was fun. We try to avoid organized tours as much as possible (once we did one in Hawaii that was a 15-hour marathon visiting every tacky gift shop on the Big Island with hardly any time to see the interesting things like lava fields) but this one was only 10 hours and reasonably priced. It was a good decision, even though the experience is very packaged (as if we’re not tourists like everyone else).

Our minibus picked us up right on time at 8:15 a.m. and we headed west. Surprisingly, Sydney’s western suburbs were pretty frumpy and sprawling, but soon enough we were on the freeway and things opened up. The road climbs into the mountains (which are about 3,000 feet high so they do qualify, barely). Each town along the way has its own slogan and proudly boasts of its elevation. The train from Sydney goes right there but without transportation it’s kind of hard to see much.

Kangaroos!

Lots and lots of eucalyptus trees in the Blue Mountains - the weather turned out nice again.
see all photos »

Twenty of us, mostly American (and a couple of Dubliners), and our guide, Lara, who’s from Italy and had a very refreshing sense of humor, were on the tour. We stopped and had tea and biscuits by the river (and paid for the tour), then headed up the mountain. Lara had a lot of stories about the area, and our group was friendly and relaxed.

We had lunch in the “garden village” of Leura (very nice panini for me) and strolled up and down the 2-block main street. Bobby bought some candles to bring home.

Down in the gorge at Scenic World, Kurt gets artistic with the flora.
see all photos »

A highlight was Scenic World, even though it was very touristy. After riding down on the “Scenic Railway” (very steep and kind of fast), we strolled around. I loved the walk through the rainforest at the bottom, especially the varied plant life (ferns like crazy). The Swiss-made “Scenic Cableway” cable car took us back up, giving us a nice view of the Three Sisters (which were also represented by some nekkid-lady [and one old nekkid dude] bronze statues out front).

And kangaroos! They were just little gray guys, but quite tame and nonplussed by our timid snapping (this was at Blue Mountains National Park). Eventually we ended up on a boat at Homebush Bay (site of the 2000 Olympics, which seemed rather deserted and sterile) headed back to the CBD. This ferry was a more modern version of the “Golden Grove,” but also a catamaran. The ride was smooth and fast.

Our guide, Lara, was great.
see all photos »

After dinner we went out for some bar-hopping on Oxford St. As it was Wednesday it was a bit quiet but we enjoyed our Victoria Bitters and observed the streetlife. A pink lipstick was left behind on the bar next to me, which attracted a few comments (not my color, thanks).