13 14 15Feb 2011

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12 Feb. Today marks the end of our first week and my sleep pattern has just about normalised helped to a large extent by the incredibly large and comfortable bed. Breakfast was magnificent and up to and even exceeding our own standards at Edenhurst. A buffet of various fresh and dried fruits and breakfast cooked to order offering omelettes as well as steak (bacon), mushrooms and (optional) beans. The sausages did not come recommended by our host Pauline who hails from Suffolk so we took heed of here advice. As much juice and coffee/tea that you could possibly wish for and a choice of toast. After breakfast we decided to re-trace our steps from the day before just in case the visibility had improved and the signs were promising as walked the 800 metres or so to Echo Point. Sure enough there were some breaks in the mist and the 3 Sisters made a brief appearance giving time for a quick photo. But then that was it – the mist from the rainforest hundreds of metres below us rose again so we then hotfooted off to the famous Govetts Leap (www.govettsleap.au??????)) for a cliff top walk to Evans Lookout. Again the visibility was poor with only brief glimpses of the mountains and the gorges below but the walk was amazing and we must have covered about 8 miles by the time we returned to our car just as the rain and cloud set in again closing everything off. A short 15 minute drive back to the BandB, rest and change and then out for a Cantonese meal just a few minutes away. By now it was lashing it down. At 9 pm local time we managed a video call by Skype with our daughter, Laura to catch up on her news before settling down for a well deserved night’s sleep.
14 Feb 2011. The next morning after another great breakfast we bade farewell to Peter and Pauline at Lurline House and headed east to Sydney via the famous Wentworth Falls. But again the weather beat us and there was no visibility what so ever. The drive back to Sydney was uneventful and after some more successful blagging at Thrifty Rental Cars, we managed to get to our apartment overlooking Darling Harbour. Special thanks to the nice guy from Thrifty who gave us a brief orientation tour of the area before dropping us back to the apartment. Although quite large and fully functional the apartment is tired and I was somewhat disappointed. However, being on the 10th floor the views are amazing taking in the Darling Harbourside complex, the city skyline, the Sydney Tower, Convention centre and of course the wharf. After settling in and eating we set out to explore and as the day light faded and night time took over the whole atmosphere changed. There were hundreds of people out in the cool air, street theatre entertainers, live music and more restaurants than you could count. We headed around to Darling Wharf and boarded a Sydney Ferry which hopped around the harbour giving us fantastic views of the skyline and eventually taking us under the Sydney Harbour Bridge towards the Opera House and Circular Quay. Up until now we hadn’t paid for a ticket so we thought ‘aha – the little person has beaten the system’ but it was not to be. To get out or get back a returning ferry we had to have a ticket or so we thought. No one checked and when we got off at Darling wharf we walked straight off. Anyway it was fully worth the $3.30 each and we will do ita again tomorrow during the day time to get some decent snaps. As we walked back the Harbourside was still busy but we decided to call it a night.
Today’s high points – the amazing view from the apartment, the walk around Darling Harbour and the Sydney harbour ferry trip
Today’s disappointments – poor weather conditions meant not appreciating the full beauty of the Blue Mountains

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Comments

[Ryan]

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a Sydney...???