Breathtaking, Beautiful and Blue

Day 4. 28/03/2012

Again another clear and bright day greeted the now un-jet-lagged travellers.

 An early morning stroll with Ben to pick up the hire car had an unexpected bonus. We stopped for a takeaway flat white, where I was introduced to the delightful owner, bedecked in waistcoat and bow tie, who appeared to originate from Eastern Europe. Making a better life on the other side of the world seemed to suit him and I salute his good nature and great coffee.

The Toyota Camry appeared to be a suitable beast for our travels around New South Wales, plenty of room and vroom . We set off, with high hopes and expectations. Control and planning had been completed by our host prior to our arrival and small clues and references to how and where our first night's stay would be were now starting to wear a little thin. Camping in the mountains was something I was not looking forward to." Katoomba , or bust " was our cry as we headed Westwards towards this fine mountain range.

The Blue Mountains are a sandstone plateau dissected by deep gorges, some over 2000 feet deep, heavily wooded, by mainly Eucalyptus trees, from which a blue haze of vapour ascends on sunny days, giving the name to the area.

We arrived in Katoomba,,the main town, and headed for the Three Sisters. This rock formation provided us with  stunning views. Mist and low cloud added to the lost world feel, made only more surreal by the Japanese tourists who insisted on thinking Ben was some eerie Bigfoot out for a stroll.

                                                                      

Three Sisters in the background flanked by Mr and Mrs Bigfoot .

We travelled down to the valley floor by the Scenic Cableway.

For someone who is scared of heights this proved rather hairy. Again much laughing and pointing as my vice like grip on the handrails, drew attention from more Japanese tourists.

The valley floor was  delightful, helped by a wooden walkway through this temperate rain forest, very impressive. To add to this experience an old coal mining settlement, now hidden by the forest, provided a reminder of how harsh this area would have been for the early Europeans settlers looking to make their fortune from the mineral deposits.

The return journey to the ridge top was even more breathtaking.... the Scenic Railway provided a ride, never to be forgotten.

The 415 metre ride up the steep incline was something that can only be described as hairy!!! 

A quick lunch at a nice little eaterie in Katoomba, forget its name, but it provided a small snackette and more jokes and innuendo regarding camp sites etc, this did not dampen my enthusiasm for wherever our eventual resting place would be.

After a 40 minute drive we suddenly lurched off of the tarmac road onto a dirt track. Mmm I thought, camping appears to be on the cards, as after 10 minutes no signs of luxury could be spotted.

In the distance a bloke was sitting on his Land Rover bonnet , " just follow me and be careful, the road was washed away in the rain last week, keep to the gravel repairs".

Oh no, I thought, Ben's finally got his own back for all the times I've taken the mickey out of him, or caused a little bit of embarrassment, but surely not to punish his own mother for my misdemeanours.

How wrong was I.......... Kookawood came into view......

What a sight....this mountain retreat was stunning.

       

We settled into our new home for two nights eagerly anticipating the lighting of a roaring log fire, even with the lovely weather outside. Ben, who for some reason, had taken on the persona of a Ray Mears/Steve Irwin type woodsman , put himself in charge of the fire lighting. His advice to us, concerning the operation of the flue damper, has now gone into legend as the most boring, mind numbing, and uninteresting speech since Bill Herbert spoke about his workout  routine. Anna just nodded and looked on with a supportive blank expression.

We decided to explorer the surroundings after taking in the stunning interior and low and behold the wildlife did not let us down. Flocks of Rainbow Lorikeets flew overhead and about 100 yards down the hill two Grey Kangaroos hopped about.

        

The first day in the Blue Mountains was in all honesty for Pauline and myself one of the best experiences of our lives. Thanks to Ben and Anna an inspired choice.....just perfect.

Tomorrow even more delightful times to come.....we couldn't wait.

Boats, Bonza and Ben

Day three and once again clear blue skies greeted the intrepid explorers. We were eager to explore a little further afield this time. After taking advice from our host, we decided to take the ferry to Manly.

One day you get to a certain stage in your life when your children seem to want to protect you from the outside world. Its a strange moment when you realise this. Years of being a parent and the role is suddenly reversed. You either bend in the wind with this turn of events, or resist.

We decided to bend and enjoy the ride on this new roller coaster. First job for Ben, it seemed,  was to escort us to the ferry and make sure we got on the right one. We sat in the foyer of 50 Pitt Street, his office building in the SBD and waited for him to appear. He later confirmed this was a surreal experience for him to exit the lift and see his mum and dad sat on a settee looking and feeling quite proud of their son.

Enough of this sentimental rubbish and lets get down to the ferry terminal and look at the Manly Ferry, the biggest and best set of ferries in the whole of Sydney !!!!!




The ride takes around 30 minutes and offers, in my opinion, the best views of the outer Sydney harbour. Its also perfect for people watching. Busy young men and women going about their business, tourists and a few people who should be on the stage. Being guilty of always looking for the best seat, or vantage point, on board any moving object, on this particular occasion I decided to observe, after Pauline, quite rightly, decided keep me on a tight lease. Anyhow the view needed to be captured.

The Sydney business district does look magnificent as you depart from Circular Quay. As you pull away the vista just opens up and encompasses the Sydney Opera House and Bridge.

Two views that really say it all,

The town of Manly has a unique feel to it. Straight off the ferry it seems to hit you. Many years ago I read an article from a  Manly resident, who returning on the ferry for the first time, since his 2nd World War service ended, sank to his knees and wept openly. He recalled being hit by a wall of difficult emotions, but the main emotion was of relief to be back in his home town alive and well. Manly has that small town feel, its got something  you can't really articulate. Walk along the Corso towards the North Shore Beach, plenty of shops and cafes on your route, either side, all different and adding to the excitement of walking towards this most iconic  of surfing beaches.

 

beach side at the end of the Corso.

 Typical views of the North Shore Beach.

After a delightful afternoon on the beach we had a light bite and sat and ate a sandwich just opposite the small war memorial just up from the ferry terminal. People watching here was terrific, even the local alcoholics were tidy. They disposed of their empty tinnies in the rubbish bins and only muttered to themselves in low tones...very civilised.

Another great day in and around Sydney....tomorrow we depart for the Blue Mountains...day four would be a eventful day.

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Bondi, Beaches and Bronte

Well, day 2 dawned and  a clear blue sky greeted us. Our hosts were back at work and concerned that we innocents abroad would get lost, or at worse, disappear without trace. Detailed notes on where to catch the bus to Bondi and where to get off were in our possession, so oft we went.....

If you asked a hundred people to name a beach in Australia I'm sure a large percentage would shout out Bondi.

One thing to comment on regarding our first bus ride in Sydney was how polite people were to other people on the bus. In England we seem to have lost all of our manners, which is a sad thing to say. Giving up your seat to a pensioner, or women, is not uncommon, its the expected social activity.

Is it as good as its been described? Well yes, its a great beach for surfing and its the start of a fantastic cliff top walk, which takes about 45mins. Take in the beach side cafe called Lush, good service and good food.


 

From Bondi, the walk it takes in Tamarama Beach and ends at Bronte Beach 3 great beaches and a lovely walk.

Off we went, walking past the famous Iceberg Club, the salt water pool where real men swim with lumps of ice in the water and the swimming trunks Speedo's first made an appearance.

Tamarama Beach is a challenging beach for surfing and swimming and boasts that the first lifeguard station  in Australia was established there in 1906. The rip tides are some of the strongest in Australia, running at 2 metres a second, which equates to someone swimming at Olympic record pace over 100 metres, not a place for me to dip my toe. If it grabs you, its hard to escape its vice like grip.

Bronte Beach, on the other hand is much safer. Big surf, but if you swim between the flags not a problem.

A nice walk, 3 glorious beaches, all within a short bus ride of central Sydney. You can see why its such a popular place.

We returned again on the bus to our base in Surry Hills, once a run down area, but now a vibrant, gentrified area, popular with the young and upwardly mobile set. Nice shops and restaurants....mmm just the place for us!!!

A great day...roll on more like this.

Bats, Bugs and Birdcages

Sunday...... 25/3/2012

Well we arrived in Sydney safe and sound. The flight from England was fine, Emirates did a good job, no complaints, but lets get to the main task at hand....Sydney!!

Did we realise that by being upside down, on the other side of the world,that we were no different really, just hanging onto the Earth by the effects of gravity. Was Australia so different to England ?

Of course it was! To coin a well worn phrase " its a whole other country ".

We couldn't wait to explore with our willing guides Ben and Anna. First port of call, a walk to the harbour from our base in Surry Hills. We took a meandering route through the Botanical Gardens, which contained two of the B's, i.e., Bats and Bugs.

How strange it was to see hanging in the trees very large Fruit Bats. The problem with these natural habitants is that they kill the trees they live in. Bit very silly really, but the powers that be have decided to scare them away by a variety of means, scarecrows and electronic radio waves. None seem to work, but they are trying the humane way. If your life depended on them being removed you would just shoot them!! Being pragmatic let them stay and plant more trees.

Australia's claim to fame is the depth of its deadly species. None more famous than its spiders. To the Woosey European's big spiders seem drive us into fits of panic. The Golden Orb Weaver is a case in point, looks a killer, but is really pussycat, very common throughout the Sydney area, when you first see them, wow, but after a while you realise that they aren't going to leave their webs, you can learn to like them.

The harbour walk through the gardens was so enjoyable that you hoped that the first sight of the actual harbour, with the bridge and opera house would not be too disappointing.

How false our fears proved.................

Two photos which really need few words...stunning being the apt description...

Australia is somewhat famous for its quirkiness and it did not disappoint. Within the city environment is, in my opinion, one of the best urban arts exhibits on offer to day.

Angel Place features an installation known as "Forgotten Songs". It features a canopy of empty birdcages hanging in the sky, accompanied by the sounds of Sydney's lost birds which may have lived in this area, before the city including this laneway, replaced their native habitats.

What a great way to end our first day...3 B's that truly took our breath away.....roll on day 2

Coming your way soon!!

A complete day by day account of our great adventure in Australia. It will have a theme, the 3 B's being the title of every days encounters down under.

It will look at the silliness of situations. The differences between the Aussie and the Pom and how Sydney, the Blue Mountains and Jervis Bay shape up as places to visit.

We will comment on the Emirates experience and how the A380  performs as a mass transport system and lastly what is the Australian obsession with pies?

In the steps of Captain Cook.

Well the bags are backed we are ready to go. The preamble to the epic journey begins somewhat like the 1st voyage of Captain Cook. Will the natives be friendly? What will we make of the scary insects and deadly animals. There are more questions than answers!!!

A little quiz dear readers, name the song lyrics and artists........more posts will be forthcoming from the other side of the world....see ya.

Its a long way from LA to Denver

As the late John Denver sang, " its a long time to hang in the sky ". My thoughts turn to long haul air travel

Is it to be enjoyed, or endured ? In my circumstances it depends on who, or what, will be at the end of that journey. I my case, this time, it will be my son and his wife in Australia. Something, most definitely to look forward to.

But and there is always a but, will the journey be hassle free and pleasant? This again is an opportunity to witness, at first hand, why human beings are so fascinating a species to observe.

The silliness of their actions and I include myself in this, beggars belief. You are given adequate time to check in and get rid of your luggage, but you still create self tension by either arriving too late, or too early. " When are they going to open the desks"?, is a moan " the queues are building up". More tension, for no reason.

Then, the boarding of the plane. I have left out the immigration and security aspect as the prospects of writing about the silly behaviours would take too much space and time, but it may be revisited at a later stage.

 The main event is to try to second guess the gate attendants. They hang around the gate desk idly chatting and teasing us by leaning near to the desk microphone. Come on, own up, we have all watched intently for this, so we can leap up from our seats to be the first in some imaginary self created scrum to get on the plane in pole position.

 Is it not better to rationalise that its along haul flight, it will be called in seat rows, you have been allocated a seat, the flight is a minimum of 7 hours and for most of it you will be sat. Oh no!! some imaginary foe is beating you to your right to board the plane, when you want to board, not when you are told to board by some young girl who was in a pram when you first travelled.

I have been that caveman. I have created chaos, I have used my two young sons as human shields to gain only a few feet of queue space. For this I apologise firstly to my wife, who's patience I have so patently tested, but mainly to all the ground staff at so many airports throughout Europe and the rest of the world.





My next flight will be pure serenity and calm. That is my intention.....but if that person thinks he can push in front of me when I've queued all this time !!!!