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Published: June 19th 2015
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Koala Encounter
Lauren gets up close and personal with a Koala at the Featherdale Wildlife Park The forecast for our final full day in Sydney had consistently promised rain but the morning broke clear and beautiful, providing Sonia with even better opportunities to photograph the sunrise over Sydney harbor. Our plan for the day was a trip to the Blue Mountains and began with a cab ride to the airport to rent a car. Driving on the left wasn’t quite as bad as John had feared, but navigating out of the airport onto the M5 highway was much more difficult than expected, and we were ready for a break almost as soon as we began. Taking a suggestion we had picked up from the Seattle-ites, we stopped early in the trip at Featherdale Wildlife Park, a zoo of Australian animals that featured opportunities for Kangaroo feeding and Koala petting. The rain did finally arrive during our drive and the visit to the zoo was wet but still fun. The wildlife Park was swamped with local school children and the kangaroo were pretty well-fed by the time we arrived, but the koala petting was a big hit. Back in the car we drove through steady rain to the oddly named “Scenic World” in the Blue Mountains. Scenic World,
Sunrise over Sydney
This morning's sunrise was even more spectacular than the previous. touted as Australia’s “most accessible wildnerness area”, is a tourist park which enables viewing of undeniably beautiful fog-covered mountains, canyons, waterfalls and natural sandstone structures with minimal physical exertion. The atmosphere of the park is a cross between a ski resort and an amusement park for small children, and indeed, the park was hosting a number of school groups. As if by magic, the rain stopped for our entire visit, giving us some improved visibility and a much more pleasant experience overall. We took the steepest railway in the world down a 52 degree incline to the canyon floor, with fantastic views of the distant mountains shrouded in clouds as well as the “three sisters” – a cool (if over hyped) sandstone formation. Once at the bottom we tramped about on a series of walkways through a thick forest of ferns, vines and turpentine trees, visiting a few sites that showed evidence of the mining history that was the impetus for the railway. After 30 minutes of zig-zagging through the forest floor, we mused that the name “Scenic World” may have been an upgrade from the original name “Walkway world”. The return trip was by gondola, affording a view of
Sunrise, part 2
The light changes so rapidly at sunrise, it looks totally different from one moment to the next. Ferries start their days early. the three sisters and “orphan rock”, a sandstone nearly vertical pillar of sandstone. A terrifying winding path could be seen leading to a spectacular view spot at the top, making it clear that the pristine beauty of the valley outside the park is commonly enjoyed by day hikers, though this particular trail has been closed to hikers for 40 years due to “significant structural instability”. Back at the top we had one more ride – another gondola, complete with glass floor, that crosses the gorge and offers great views of Katoomba falls. Quite hungry by this point, we made our way into the town of Katoomba and settled in at a pizza-pub which we had all to ourselves in the mid afternoon. We opted against kangaroo and crocodile pizzas, selecting much more pedestrian toppings which we thoroughly enjoyed. Back on the highway the rain promptly restarted as we headed back into Sydney after dark. Navigation continued to be a challenge, and at the end we missed the turn to cross the Sydney harbor bridge and unexpectedly entered a tunnel instead. Emerging on the correct side of the harbor, we were unprepared to navigate from where we found ourselves and rapidly
Andrew's turn with Koala
Eyeing each other warily. got ourselves quite lost in Sydney as we drove through some lively and interesting neighborhoods. Unwilling to pay the roaming fees to use our phones for navigation, we did it the old-fashioned way – using a paper map that required Andrew’s youthful eyes to read in the poor light. Taxed from the hours of driving on the left, in the dark and rain through the winding streets of Sydney, John was ready to kiss the ground when we finally arrived back at the hotel. It was only about 7pm but with the early sunset and ongoing jetlag we all felt like it was past bedtime. Andrew and John hunted down some provisions at a market and we finished out the evening with some snack and TV.
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