November 2013

Our 2nd Day in the Blue Mountains was a epic one.

Words can't describe our hiking for 8 hours (and who knows how many kilometers and stairs!) and all that we saw, explored, found, and the vastness of it all. But here's lots of pictures...

Witch's Leap

Cockatoo enjoying a drink and a bath

Three Sisters

Trail in the Blue Mountains

Lyrebird

Gorgeous Waterfalls

Gorgeous Waterfalls

So many stairs

A beautiful crimson rosella

Bridal Veil Falls

Bridal Veil Falls

Aftermath of a bush fire from a couple years ago

Gordon Falls Lookout

It all started with a reason, and an excuse, to get out of Sydney. Feeling like 8 days had been more than enough to explore Sydney, we started looking for other options, but until something jumped out, we continued to extend our stay with The Original Backpackers Hostel one night at a time. Eventually we waited too long to tell them we wanted to extend and after 9 nights there, they were booked and we needed a Plan B.
We'd heard about the Blue Mountains, only a 2 hour train ride from Sydney, and decided to head there. We found a hostel that sounded cool, booked 3 nights there, in some town that was in the 'Blue Mountains' region, and set about packing our stuff up again. The next day we hopped on a train and headed west.

The Flying Fox.

After finding the hostel we dropped off our bags, grabbed a paper map, and headed out to find some trails!

We found some minor waterfalls and the iconic Three Sisters looking out over Jamison Valley.

Jamison Valley

Katoomba Cascades

The Three Sisters

PS> Happy Thanksgiving to those stateside! =)

No major stories, just some pictures

Walking and views from the Harbour Bridge.

Sydney Opera House

Well it was a lazy Friday morning in Sydney, over 80 degrees and we weren't sure what to do. Feeling like we'd seen everything in the area of our hostel and walked just about everywhere else, nothing was jumping out at us for a plan. On our budget we didn't want to spend a lot and weren't feeling up for any museums.

We spent the morning catching up on the internet with friends and pictures and occasionally vocalizing a “What are we doing today?” that was usually met with silence. Next thing we knew, it was after 2pm! We took a break and headed downstairs for some tea, on our way back we passed the bulletin advertizing sailing on one of the local tall ships. We did a double take, it actually looked like a good deal!
$139 value for $40...includes hour and a half sail, mast climb, and open bar. Oh and it sails every day at 3:45pm. Gosh, we should do this today!

A quick check online told us nothing about the availability for the day so we packed a bag and headed in the direction oh the harbour. Stopping along the way we confirmed that yes, we could do it that day for the advertised price deal, we just had to be at the dock in half an hour. We had to speed walk since it normally takes us 45 minutes to get to the dock, but we made it!

And it was a beautiful afternoon for a sail! We were on the Southern Swan, build in 1922 in Denmark. Long story short, the Southern Swan made the voyage from England to Australia in 1988, to take part in the famous Australian Bicentennial First Fleet Re-enactment and has stayed there since.

We started with the mast climb since you couldn't drink until after the climb. It was quite windy but gorgeous views from up there, unfortunately we weren't allowed to bring a camera or spend much time up there since there was a lot of people who wanted to climb during that sail. But to just hang out up there would have been awesome!

After the climb we got some champagne, then decided they'd be better as mimosas and just enjoyed the ride. We sailed under the harbour bridge which was a new direction for us and there was a bit of commentary on the surroundings that we listened in on.

Though there had been dolphins in the harbour the day before, none were to be found that day. Despite my best efforts of looking...

Sometimes it gets really tough not having things planned out, especially for me, but being able to do these spontaneous activities is awesome!!

Elizabeth and I waited for the second to last day to see the sculptures by the sea. It was also the second hottest day we'd been here. And a Saturday. It was packed with people. I'd actually read about the Sculptures by the Sea walk in a blog months ago, but didn't remember the dates, so I'm glad we timed it right!

We took a couple buses to get to Bondi Beach where it all starts, and headed South to Coogee Beach. Not sure I'll ever like buses, but we eventually made it. It was the first time we'd been to Bondi and it's a touristy beach town from what we could tell from the half an hour we were there. We got some last minute supplies we'd been needing...sunglasses for me and a hat for Elizabeth...and headed out on the walk.

It's advertised as 6km but definitely felt a lot longer. Probably partly because we were surrounded by so many people we couldn't walk normally. We only lost each other once in the crowd but there was a ton of people everywhere. You can't tell from most of my pictures since I was trying to avoid capturing the mobs of people and focusing on the sculptures and picturesque landscape.

In the end it was hot (mid 80s), long, and totally worth it. The path goes up and down stairs so you go from being along a beach/water level to being up on a cliff overlooking the ocean and the next beach as it follows the shoreline south to Coogee. I took way too many pictures and will now just post a lot of them.

One of my favorites for sure...a simple glass ball with water in it.

You know you're in Australia when there's giant jugs of free sunscreen: