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Published: April 9th 2006
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In the Blue Mountains
the three sisters rocks are in the background The next day we met up with a hungover Phil, who'd gone out again despite insisting he was going to have a quiet night and recharge. We all went to Manly for the day, a suburb that has the harbour on one side and the beach and sea on the other. We caught the ferry from Circular Quay, and enjoyed the crossing, with its stunning views of the enormous harbour, with coastlines that looked like something from the Med - all rocky sides, crashing waves, and wooded areas. The harbour was teeming with life, a playground for the city goers who like to take out their boats on a weekend, as well as light aircraft in the sky swooping low above us, and tons of ferries. Manly was a lovely, with a long sweeping beach, and a fir lined promenade, with a twisting rocky shore that hides numerous coves. We soaked up the sun, took a walk along the coast and watched the surfers before buying some food for dinner and heading back at sunset on the ferry. Phil realised he was late for the cabaret show he was going to - a girl he'd met the other night was in
it, and had to go, so me and Al had an extra large dinner and an early night. The next day was Phils birthday, but he didnt make an appearance till the afternoon, so me and Al moved into a cheaper hostel across the road and waited for him. We all went back to Manly and had a bbq on the beach on one of the free electric bbqs. The sun soon went down though, and we headed home and had some wine on our rooftop terrace, but Phils late nights had caught up wiht him and he went to bed fairly early.
On Tuesday we met up to go to the Blue Mountains, our tour guide was Shane, a funny, bubbly guy. We had brilliant weather - the Blue Mountains are notorious for being shrouded in cloud and fog, but we had a gorgeous clear day - we were very lucky. We stopped off at the Telstra Dome, the sight of the 2000 Olympics, then went to a wildlife park. We saw so many native animals, kookaburras, possums, echidnas, plus loads of kangaroos were roaming free - it was surreal feeding them and stroking them, as well as
getting up close and personal for a cuddle with a koala! After that we were off again, and drove up into the Blue Mountains - so called for all the eucalyptus oil the trees produce. It was gorgeous and forrested, different types of trees and plants covering the land as far as you could see. We went for a walk in the bush and looked at the view, then carried on to Echo Point in Katoomba, and the famous rock formation there called the Three Sisters - named after a Dreamtime story (The Dreaming is the Aboriginal version of Creation) We had lunch, then walked down into the Jamison valley and the rainforest there - lovely and cool and dark, with huge towering trees and waterfalls and rocks. We took the Scenic Railway back up to the top - the steepest railway in the world, then headed for home. That night we went to a bar called O'Malleys in Kings Cross, with a guy called Beau Smith singing old classics - i had a great night singing along and dancing (although not sure the boys appreciated the singing so much)
Wed we went back to Manly for more beach
time, then had another night at the harbour with a bottle of wine. Thurs we lay in, met up with Phil for lunch, then separated again, as we all werent sure of our plans. Me and Al went to the Australian Museum, with good displays on Aboriginal and Torres Straits islanders and the injustice they went through right into the 70s (watch Rabbit Proof Fence for an example) as well as an abundance of skeletons and displays of native birds and minerals. We walked down to Darling harbour and basked in the sun at the waters edge with an ice cream, then embarked on a huge trek across to the Rocks to book a restuarant for Saturday night, before heading home through the Domain - a park on the edge of the Botanic Gardens, and right under the flight path of all the fruit bats it contains! Pretty eerie seeing hundreds of massive bats flying silently over your head in the twilight. We met Phil for dinner, but i was struck down with a killer headache and decided to call it a night. Friday we all went to the Powerhouse Museum in the morning, an amazing museum absolutely full of
fascinating things and interactive exhibits - from science and technology, music, transport, social history to the space age. Very interesting! We had a cheeky Maccy D's in the sun then wandered round Darling Harbour. Me and Al saved our aching feet and took the ferry back to Circular Quay and Phil decided to walk. We meandered home and got friendly with a bottle of vodka.
Saturday was Als last day, and our last day in Sydney. Me and Al went to the Rocks again via the Botanical Gardens - another gorgeous sunny day, it was so nice seeing the sunlight glinting on the water and walking round the curve of the garden wall to see the Opera House emerge into view. We had a nice look round the market at the Rocks, then took a bus to Bondi. We wanted to go to a different beach, so took the coastal path round via Tamarama beach to Bronte beach. It was a spectacular walk, crashing waves and suicidal surfers framed by a jagged coastline. The waves were huge that day, some 20 feet high, and numerous times bathers were engulfed, only to emerge dripping with blood from cut knees and
elbows. We caught the train straight back to Kings Cross, and went out for our last dinner in Sydney. We went to the waters edge infront of the Rocks, to a posh restuarant that had views of both the bridge looming on our left and the Opera House lit up across the water. It was spectacular. We had kangaroo and crocodile skewers to start, then were less adventurous with seafood and steak respectively, plus shared dessert and some nice wine. It was a perfect end to an amazing two weeks. The next morning we checked out, moped around for a couple of hours, then I sobbed, heartbroken when Al finally left for the airport, and periodically blubbed throughout the day. I was pretty sad to be leaving Sydney too. It is a place where pidgeons and parrots are equally as common, where you can dine in the finest restuarants or booze it up in the seediest districts. The harbour is truly beautiful, and the beaches are gorgeous...i was not looking forward to another epic 12 hour bus ride to Byron Bay.
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