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Published: April 13th 2010
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A baby koala has a snooze I was hoping it would be second time lucky when I went to collect my hire car. And it was, so Alex and I drove Zak (a Hyundai Getz in a very fetching shade of blue) out of Sydney city centre (out first turn was, of course, wrong) via Harbour Bridge - which is actually the country's busiest road. Alex's chronic inability to read maps blew us slightly off course (joking Honky... it wasn't all your fault), but we eventually found our way north to the koala centre at Pennant Hills. Alex wanted to see some Australian critters, and I wanted to see some koalas.
The koala centre is actually home to far more than koalas... it houses wombats, cockatoos, echidnas, emus, cassowaries and all manner of kangaroos and wallabies - including their bastard child (?) the wallaroo. Our first stop was the baby koalas, which clung onto two small eucalyptus branches, some asleep, some eating. Koalas are as cute and baffling in real life as they seem in pictures, and they smell. But we forgive them! Quite how this creature exists is a true wonder of nature... the young are fed their parents' poo, and their only food is
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Alex makes a friend so lacking in nutrients that they need to sleep virtually all of the time they're not eating! Only in Australia!
Dodging the kids crowding round for feeding time, we visited the cheeky talking cockatoos and went in search of some kangaroos to feed with the bag of cheerios we'd bought from the centre. I never knew that marsupials liked breakfast cereal, but the red kangaroo with a joey in her pouch happily munched on them from Alex's open hand. My attempt to feed a younger roo was less successful... all I got was a view of his back in response. After this rejection, we moved over to the bigger grey kangaroos, who gratefully (and noisily) received the last of our cheerios. And then it was time for the cassowaries. Hmmm. What on earth possessed mother nature to create this thing?? Thick black feathers, spikes for wings, a torqoise blue neck, red wattles, big feet and a bad temper... jeez these things are odd, but their vacant gaze made them kindof endearing. I just don't want to meet one without a fence in front of me!
We then drove on to Katoomba, a small town in the Blue Mountains,
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Crossing to the Three Sisters where we were going for a spot of bushwalking. The sky was grey on arrival, but we checked into our lodge then drove to Echo Point, to see the area's star attraction - the Three Sisters (named after a legend which says they were formed when three sisters were turned to stone by a sorcerer. There's a nudey sculpture at Scenic World to commemorate this link) and a dramatic valley lined with steep escarpments. If it hadn't been for the several hundred coach- loads of tourists, it would have been a great spot. I guess a place as beautiful as this so close to a major city is bound to be popular, but this was extreme... I was thankful that this was the first time I'd experienced such a place in a long time. We retreated to the lodge and rustled ourselves up some delightful beans on toast, washed down with a nice sav blanc.
The following day, we left Zak at Scenic World (home to the world's steepest railway and a relatively pointless cable car which passes over the impressive Katoomba Falls. Our walk took us along the cliff edge for about 5km, past more lookouts than I
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The Katoomba River cared to count or look out of, then down into the valley floor, where rainforest and blissfully few people awaited. The path then climbed back up to the cliff, via a ledge halfway up the Katoomba Falls. Naughtily we jumped the barriers (Alex made me), but steered clear of the edge, where slippery rocks guarded a drop of about 100 metres.
Bushwalking done, it was time to return to Sydney to drop Alex at the airport, but not before slouching in front of the cosy fire to watch The Devil Wears Prada with our slightly strange roommate who laughed just a bit too loudly and long at inappropriate moments. And he drank tea from a bowl. Weirdo.
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Eric
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I enjoyed your post. Hope you are having fun in OZ. My blog is looking for travel photos, stories, accommodation reviews, and food reviews. If you have the time and have some to share, email us at dirtyhippiesblog@gmail.com or check us out at dirty-hippies.blogspot.com Continued fun on your travels, Eric