Sydney

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19th June 2009

We arrived late into Sydney, settled into our hostel and, after some food, headed to bed.

20th June 2009

Despite having spent most of yesterday traveling we decided to head to Katoomba in the Blue Mountains (2 hours by train from Sydney). The reason for this was that the lonely planet had informed us that there was a Winter Solistice Festival, which we had arrived just in time for. We wondered around in the misty rain watching local school children and various other groups performing before the climax of a fireworks show. It was interesting to mix with the locals although one guy was a little too strange for our liking. After a few beers and pizza we headed back to Sydney on the last train home.


21st June 2009

Today we decided to stay in Sydney and see some of the city. We headed to "The Rocks", the oldest part of the city, to have a look around the market. The market was directly underneath the Sydney Harbour Bridge and we decided to walk across. This gave us some great views of the Sydney Opera House and the harbour area. After seeing it from a far we went for a closer look and even ventured inside. We finished off the evening by having a glass of wine at the Opera House Bar before the mundane task of shopping for dinner.

22nd June 2009

To make the most of our day we splashed out on an all day travel ticket. First stop was a look around the Olympic Park. Sadly not as spectacular as it may once have been, they did have a great monument made from the Olympic Torch to celebrate all the medalists. Next up we went to the iconic Bondi Beach and walked along watching the surfers splashing around. After a quick lunch we headed back to the city centre and ventured up the Sydney Sky Tower. After the usual cityscape photos it was on to the botanical gardens to catch a glimpse (and a photo of course) of the Harbour Bridge and Opera House at sunset. After this we caught the ferry across the harbour to see the city lit up at night.


23rd June 2009

We returned to Katoomba today, but this time to explore the area rather than drink with the locals. After alighting from the train we headed straight to "Scenic World" the home of the 3 sisters. These are 3 rocks on the mountain that have been eroded by water and wind to look like the figures of 3 people sitting side by side. We had a good view of these on the skyway before taking the worlds steepest railway to the base of the valley. Here we followed the various walkways, taking us past various relics of the once thriving mining industry that was based in Katoomba. In a bit of rush we took the last cable car to the top and walked around the mountain to get a closer view of the 3 sisters at sunset. Finally we caught the train home, thankfully it was not the last one this time.


24th June 2009

After a good lie in we left in the afternoon for Port Stephens. When we arrived we were taken directly to our hostel which was a kind of eco-lodge where they had taken in some of the local sick wildlife.

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