Beach Days

We spent out next, and last three days exploring the local beaches.

First up we took a ferry and then a bus to famous Bondi Beach.  Paul finally got to play in the surf and enjoy the beach.  It was too rough for me so I enjoyed the wonderful weather and watched the swimmers and surfers.

The next day we visited Manly Beach.  This involved a ferry ride and a short walk.  It is a remarkable brach 30 minutes from the main terminus in Sydney.

It was windy and very rough.  Paul enjoyed the rolling surf and the great weather.

On our last day we walked to the New South Wales Art Gallery where as well as local artists and contemporary art

 we saw...

A Monet...

A Van Gough...

A Cézanne...

A Reubans

and...

A Warhal...

The weather turned very warm so after the art gallery we made a second visit to Manly Beach where both Paul and I played in the much calmer surf.

We had a nice dinner overlooking the beach and then made our way back via ferry to our hotel to pack.

Sydney Aquarium-Dec 9

We paid a visit to The Sydney Aquarium which is located in Darling Harbour.  Our day started with a ferry ride to the Harbour adjacent to Circular Quay where we were staying.

The aquarium is very interesting, using water diectly from the Harbour and housing some really interesting fish.

We saw many interesting fish but the highlight was seeing a dugong (similar to a manatee) one of only two in captivity.  Efforts to release her into the wild had not been successful so she is a permanent resident. She is over 200kg and eats 40kg of lettuce per day.

We also saw rays and many sharks

It was very interesting....

After a meal in the vicinity of the aquqrium we grabbed another ferry and explored further downstream.

And we made it to a movie 'Top Gun Mverick' and cqme back via the subway system.

The final Leg

Leaving the Blue Mountains behind us ae hsaded towards our final stop...Sydney.  we arrived in the early afternoon and returned our rental car, used the transit system to get to our home base at Circle Quay and settled into our hotel.

With the late afternoon and evening ahead of use we decided to use the public transpotation system.  There is a very efficient ferry system and so we jumped on one to see what we could see.

We saw a lot!

Sydney Harbour us very, very busy.  Cruise ships come and go with the water ferries darting around through many many sailboats peppering the waterways.

We took a ferry from Circular Quay to Manly and back again.  It was a spectacular evening and it got colder as the sun dipped low in the sky.

We sailed by the Sydney Harbour bridge that we had driven over earlier on our way into the city.

When we finished our first trip, we jumped on another ferry headed to cockatoo Island...the locatoon of one of the penal colonies in the late 1800's.  We didn't stay long before the next ferry came to take us back to Circular Quay.

On our way back we stopped in Darling Bay where we saw skyscrappers galore.

Thee sun set and we saw the moon riaing beside the iconic Opera House.

Exploring The Blue Mountains/Megalong Valley (Dec 7)

We started our day early at the i-centre at Echo Point which we had visited the evening before.  We took the advice of the experts at the info centre and set off to see the scenery from lookouts.  We were unable to do any hiking so relied on lookouts with car access.

We took a short walk to see the three sisters from a different perspective.

On the way back we saw a female lyrebird in the underbrush.

Then we carried on to a number of lookouts along the road which runs along the ridge of the mountains.

The blue tinge in the air was really obvious!

Having seen the valley and the mountains from may viewpoints, we decided to wander onto the valley floor and so, followed the Megalong road down to the valley floor.

This was a fascinating route on a narrow road with many hairpin curves and many areas that had been recently washed out by the torrential rains.

 

After 20 minutes in the rainforest going steadily downhill we made it to the valley floor and could see the cliffs rising up above us.

We stopped at a lovely tea room and on the advice of one of the employees we foind our way to two other lookouts on the way out.  This involved another narrow track up the mountain to see some incredible views.  There was no one else around!

In the evening we were struck by a beautiful sunset and found a nearby lookout from which to admire it.

On Our Way To The Blue Mountains -Dec 6

After a quiet, rainy day the day before, we struck off to our next destination early.  Paul took advantage of the reltively calm seas and beautiful morning and had a quick swim while I finished the packing.  It was a good start to what promised to be a long day of driving.

Our next destination was Katoomba in the Blue Mountains.  These are mountains which get their name from the eucalyptus oil which hangs in the air giving them a bluish hue.

We opted to take some back roads and avoid the motorways.  This was fun in itself as we ended up on some twisty-turny routes through fum forests and pasture land with phenomenal views.

We also experienced the results of the recent flooding.  On some low-lying bridges the debris of the river was pushed up against the railings,.some roads were closed completely and the ones we were using were full of potholes yet to be filled.

The driving was a bit tricky in spots.

We also.saw our first goona in the wild...

We finally arrived at echo point, a huge lookout overlooking the deep Jamison gorge in the mountains.  The sun was low and the mist did indeed have a blue tint.

Ths gorge is complegely covered in forests...just beautiful!

At this spot there are also the Three Sisters-large pinicles of rock which are also very picturesque...

As we were leaving we saw a.beutifully coloured bird...a Crimson Rosella.

We checked in to our hotel/apartment which was older and showing signs of its age...and we were expecting limited tv service.  To our great delight they had a wonderful cable package and Paul was able to see the Monday night NFL football game...rounding out the day on a very good note!