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We hardly know where to begin!!
A now not-so-distant aunty picked us up from Sydney airport on Wednesday and had kindly taken 3 days off work to show us around Sydney. We should have figured from the start when she drove us straight into the city with our bags in the boot that the next fews days would be jam-packed, involving many early mornings!
Sky Tower
Helen thought the best way to start was by getting an overview of the city from the Skytower. It was a lovely clear day, and we got a great view of the harbour and bays around Sydney, as well as our first glimpses of the Opera House and Harbour Bridge. We then got to go on the OzTrek which was a virtual reality simulation around Australia. This was a cool introduction, but me being me, got dizzy on the jerking seats - it really wasn't necessary!
Opera House
There was no better place to go next than the Sydney Opera House. We drove to the botanical gardens and walked through them towards it. It being a brilliantly blue, sunny day it was almost unbelievable that we were stood in front of one
of the world's most famous landmarks. There was no better way to appreciate it than by having a cup of tea in a cafe looking out onto it - perfect!
Blue Mountains
The next day we drove out to the Blue Mountains. They're called this because from a distance, on a sunny day, the haze from the eucalyptus leaves that cover them actually make them look blue. We drove up to view the 3 Sisters and then took a walk to the base of them. We then took a ride on the world's
steepest passenger railway ride, which at one point reaches 52 degrees! When you first get in when the train's horizontal, the seats are sloped right back so that while you're going down you're actually upright. A quick walk through the forest and we returned up by cable car, giving us a wondrous view of Australia's famous valley.
Jenolan Caves
Next we visited the Jenolan caves, an immense underground network of limestone caverns, including stalactites, stalagmites, and crazy rock formations, including some wafer-thin rocks that were rippled and looked like curtains! Dotted around the caves were the occasional signature (burnt with a candle flame) of explorers
from over 100 years ago.
As we were pulling out of the car park, we spotted something watching us intriguingly. A wild kangaroo had hopped out of the nearby bush, and we spent 10 minutes feeding the first marsupial we'd ever encountered! It was pretty small but its claws were quite sharp, digging into our hands to make sure we didn't pull its apple away. He was a hungry little guy!
Koala Park
Having been graced with one of Australia's weird and wonderful creatures, we went to see some more at the Koala Park. Highlights included photos with wombats and koalas, helping to shear a sheep and watching boomerang demonstrations, as well as spying our first emus, echidnas, wallabys, kookaburras, (flaming) gahlas, dingoes, and wallaroos (a cross, believe it or not, between a wallaby and a kangaroo!). The best thing however, was witnessing a young kangaroo sniff around its mother for a while, before diving headfirst into her pouch and disappearing before our eyes!
Sydney Harbour Bridge
Back in the city, we spent a day climbing the magnificent Sydney Harbour Bridge, which has also been scaled by Prince Harry, Will Smith, Matt Damon, the Olsen twins, Bruce
The Sydney Harbour bridge
If you look very closely you may be able to see a group of people at the top having just done the Bridge Climb. Springsteen and a 100-year old woman! Safety is a
massive concern for them, so they spent the first hour giving us a hat, a hankie, a grey bodysuit (so that we'd blend in with the pylons and not distract traffic), sunglasses, a fleece, and a radio and headset so we could listen to commentary while climbing, all of which were attached to our batman-like utility belts so they didn't fall into the road!
After making our way through many of the beams supporting the traffic above us, we climbed a few sets of steps and soon found ourselves at the bottom of the arch, and started ascending its slope. The climb isn't that hard really, but the trip we had chosen had been perfectly timed for us to reach the very top of the bridge just as the sun was setting! Of course we don't have any photos, they conveniently don't let you take your camera up there but kindly provide a professional photographer to capture the moment for you....at a price!
And so ended our first few days in Sydney, tune in soon for the sequel, and info on our trip to Canberra!
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Irene
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Sydney is a great place to spend some time. Was the aunty a good tour guide :) xx