FROM THE MOUNTAINS TO THE VALLEYS TO THE OCEANS…

April 5, 2011

Today was a free day, since our itinerary changed after the earthquake in Christchurch.  We picked up a tour to the Blue Mountains, about two hours north of Sydney.  We stopped at the Weatherdale Wildlife Park along the way, where kangaroos roamed around freely, waiting to be fed by us.  There were lots of koalas, birds, little penguins, wombats and a Tasmanian Devil, too!  Our 1 hour stop flew by as these animals were friendly, tame and of such great variety that we all agreed this was the best animal park we’ve seen yet. 

Back on the bus we drove a short distance to the tiny little town of Leura.  Basically your tourist town similar to many of the quaint mountain towns of our west.  Gourmet lunch at the Red Door and then off to the rainforest.

We had rain off and on throughout the day and walking on the valley floor was not looking good.  The focal point of the area is The Three Sister, three large rock columns that legend says are three aboriginal girls who were turned to stone to protect them.  Bad news…it was a cloudy and rainy day – Good news…it cleared for a short time for us to see the formations but not from Echo Point, the regular viewing area.  Once at the Scenic World Center we were a little luckier and the sky cleared for a short time.  Buying a last minute ticket, we did take the world’s steepest railcar to the bottom of the rain forest for a short walk, before returning on a large gondola.  Bus ride back to Sydney for our last night in one of our favorite cities – clean and pretty trumps the high prices as long as we don’t need to spend more than four days.

We haven’t talked about the prices we have found throughout this colony but they are high.  Lunches are regularly over $10 for a simple sandwich or fish and chips.  Dinners usually start around $18 and that is not for anything special.  But the real shocker is the price of the alcohol.  It almost leads one to become sober.  When you find a beer for $8.00 you’re feeling pretty good. Linda was looking for her first martini last nite at a local pub.  No Absolute…no vermouth so she says, “Make it a Grey Goose on the rocks”  Watching them pour and remembering that the ‘standard’ serving is only 35ml or 1ounce she says, “No make that a double.”  Well $24 later she decided it was the best drink she ever had.  (and you were wondering why we didn’t buy opals…)