Lost in Sydney

Dear Readers,

My daughter Beth pointed out that I didn't spell Sydney correct. Sorry if you are Aussie. I am a bad speller I admit.

On day two of our journey, we were picked up very early at our hotel by a bus company. We continued to pick up people at other hotels and I was relieved that we didn't stay at the Shangri La in Sydney afterall. It was down on the docks but quite a walk from anything. We were at the heart of downtown where we were at the Swissotel.

We grabbed a quick breakfast at McDonalds (the American embassy they referred to them as) and boarded a bus for the Blue Mountains. If you look at a map you can see that Sydney is bordered on the west by a large range of mountains-The Blue Mountains. Sydney has the most people in all Australia-about the population of Singapore. About ten minutes outside Sydney, there was nothing. I could have been driving through Virginia. The mountains are beautiful. Unfortunately it was foggy and slightly misting as we drove up to a town on top of the mountains. Coal drove people to settle there. We visited the Three Sisters which was a rock formation that was impressive. If you knew where we live, the Natural Chimneys is a close twin. Now these rocks were in a large national park. No animals! Only birds live there-whole flocks of beautiful white cuckadoos. The forest is actually like Virginia forest. I felt right at home!

We first rode a glondala down from the mountain top to the forest floor. Here they had had a coal mine decades ago. The remains of the mine were on display. Then we rode a train (almost vertical) up the mountain. This was the original track that brought the miners up and down the mountain as well as the coal. It was scary! Not much of a seat belt! But what a rush! Once back on top, we sought out lunch at the cafe. Someone pointed out a stuffed fake Kola bear in the tree. Ha. Ha. I said. After lunch we hopped on another cable car that went across the canyon and let us see a beautiful waterfall. Unfortunately we didn't have time to do any hiking because we had a strict time limit to be back on the bus. For the rest of tour it was the same way. Hurry up! Ten minutes. Here is a photo minute-and I mean a minute! Get back on please. I would like to be home by 5:00. Move along. This is the problem with taking a tour instead of renting a car.

After we were all rounded up like lost children, we headed off to the Wildlife Park. Here I was deceived. I had been under the illusion that this was my last chance to observe real Australian wildlife in the real wild. Not so. This was a zoo where damaged and sick animals were nursed back to health. I did get to pet a joey (baby kangeroo). Kangeroos did roam wild through the zoo and I got food that brought them to me. I got to pet them, cuddle them, and call them George. Until a big bird came and attacked me. It took my cone away from me and dared me to say something about it. I murmured something about KFC but it was unimpressed. I lost my edge then. I became an observer. We watched them feed Dingoes. I got to pet Kola bears and yes, they really feel like a shag carpet. By the way, I was told these docile creatures are agressive and bite in the wild. They will take your head off! And they don't like Quantas! I feel your pain.

Then we were huddled back on the bus and shuffled back toward Sydney. Before we arrived, however, the driver informed us that we could enjoy a boat ride back. The ferry awaited. So we did buy a ticket and rode down the river to Sydney. I observed many other tourist buses unloaded their passengers at the ferry. Somebody was getting a kickback! The tide was up and we had to duck under bridges. The rowing teams were out and racing beside us. We landed at the marina about two blocks from our hotel. We stopped along the pier there and ate dinner at a seafood restaurant. Guess What. They like shrimp with the heads on them too! There is no accounting for bad taste! Ha.

We headed back to our hotel buying postcards and looking for possum products. The next day we were flying to New Zealand. So we went to bed. Stay tuned.