Petersontravels

When we went to pick up our rental car imagine our surprise that right in front of where we needed to drive away was Sydney’s annual St. Patrick’s Day Parade!  We had to wait an hour for the parade to end just to leave the city.  We finally got in our car and once again I had to teach my brain to think backwards and drive on the wrong side of the road.  I’ll admit, it seems to get easier each time.

We drove west for an hour and a half to the little town of Luera, set in the middle of Blue Mountains National Park.  The blue in Blue Mountains refers to a bluish haze the region takes on from the abundance of Eucalyptus trees.  It was too early to check into our Bed and Breakfast, so we drove to a nearby lookout spot, Sublime Point, just minutes from Luera.

We would see similar beautiful sights during our two days here.  There are sheer cliffs everywhere around the canyon.  The vegetation is incredibly lush!

Selfie time!

We walked into Luera for dinner that night.  It’s a cute little town with one main road down the middle.  If you visit, make sure you check out the Beer Garden in the nearby Alexandra Hotel.  I didn’t take any photos, but it’s a nice spot a short walk from downtown and they have excellent beer on draft!

The Blue Mountains, and Luera in particular, have a large population of Yellow-Crested Cockatoo’s!  They were everywhere!  Apparently they have become quite adept at lifting up trash can lids, but we didn’t witness that.

There is a wine store on the main drag with the most informative and helpful owner.  We were going to have dinner the next night for my birthday, and the restaurant allows you to bring in your own wine for a $10 corkage.  The shop owner helped us pick out an excellent Shiraz from a local small family-run winery called Bloodwood.  Excellent choice!  If we lived here I’d be in this wine store all the time!

The next morning we made our way to the Wentworth Falls Lookout.

This shot of Wentworth Falls is from the “Prince’s Rock Lookout”, just a short walk from the parking lot.  Notice the small rainbow from the mist of the falls!

It was interesting to note that there is a “Fletcher’s Lookout”!

This one is a little bit closer to Wentworth Falls, and has a better view of the falls with the surrounding bluff and valley.

Just before crossing the stream that creates Wentworth Falls we had to take another selfie.

Here is the water leading over the edge of the falls.  It hadn’t rained for several days so it was rather calm.

Just past the Wentworth stream you can hike along side the cliff edge on a trail that is embedded into the cliff wall.  It makes for some excellent views!

Here is Wentworth Falls from a different perspective.

This photo gives you a view of the trail that runs along the cliff wall.

Another view of the trail.  A very cool hike!

They have various metal markers along the trails.  I started taking photos of them whenever I saw them.

We then drove about 15 minutes west to the town of Katoomba to visit “Echo Point”, that has an excellent view of this rock formation known as The Three Sisters.  According to an Aboriginal legend, three sisters from the local Katoomba tribe fell in love with three brothers from the neighboring Nepean tribe, but tribal law forbade them to marry.  The three brothers tried to take the sisters from their tribe, so a witchdoctor turned them into stone to protect them.  He meant to reverse the spell, but he was killed in the fight, so the three sisters have been perpetually frozen in stone.

There is a short hike down to get a better view of the first sister.

Another metal lizard made an appearance on this path.

Time to test the selfie skills!

Twenty minutes north of Katoomba is the town of Blackheath, with perhaps the best view in the Blue Mountains at Govett’s Leap.  The lookout is named for William Govett, a painter and surveyor who was the first European to visit this spot in June 1831.

The views of the Grose Valley are incredible!

There is also a view of Govett’s Leap Falls.  Unfortunately the region is in the middle of a drought so the falls were pretty minimal.

Part of the reason this waterfall looks so small in the last photo is the water is mostly being pushed back up by the wind.  We walked to this spot adjacent to the falls and the mist from the falls was dropping all around us.

We took turns taking photos with another couple at this spot.

One last shot from Govett’s Leap.  The waterfall falls 591 feet, making it the 17th tallest waterfall in Australia.

Up next, we catch a flight to Adelaide and visit the Barossa Valley, one of the worlds best wine regions, at least according to them!

 

One of our original planned activities in Sydney, way back in 2020, was to do the “Sydney Bridge Climb”, where you put on a harness and then hike up to the top of the bridge span.  After Covid shut everything down, this company was the absolute worst to deal with to try to get a refund.  They even went so far as to try to change the terms and conditions on their website, but I had screenshots that I shared with our credit card company, so we got our refund.  Needless to say, no way I was going to deal with those assholes again!

So, if you end up in Sydney, I highly suggest you simply hike up 200 steps into the Pylon Lookout, where you spend a lot less $$ and get the same views!  The lookout is on top of the right Pylon in the below photo.  Our hotel, the Park Hyatt Sydney, is right below it.

Once again, an Opera House view!  Don’t worry, we are leaving Sydney soon!

The lookout has a direct view down onto the bridge lanes.  Look how light that traffic is today!

The opposite view looking at the bridge itself.  If you enlarge the photo you can actually see people hiking up the span.

In the middle of Sydney Harbor is Fort Denison, which appears incredibly small.  At one point the island was much larger, but the new British colony used convicts to quarry the island for the building of Circular Quay.  In 1857, what remained was reinforced as a military fort and had gun emplacements.

In May 1942, three Japanese midget submarines attacked Sydney Harbor.  The USS Chicago fired on the Japanese, and some of the shells hit the small tower on the Fort, causing minor damage that remains visible.  Unfortunately the fort is currently closed to the public.

Inside the Pylon is the Sydney Harbor Bridge museum.  Another tidbit of WWII history is this Pylon was closed to visitors as it was used as a placement for anti-aircraft guns.

One last bit of history on the bridge.  The 4 pylons only support the bridge from the deck level down.  The upper portions of the pylons, despite the additional weight and cost, were only added to make the bridge “appear” more structurally sound.  Sounds like an American project!

The next morning we took an Uber to Coogee Beach so we could hike along the ocean on the “Bondi to Coogee Walk”, only in reverse.  We had an additional reason we wanted to visit Coogee.  Back before Covid, during our first planned trip to Australia, we watched an Australian TV show called Wonderland, which I’d describe as an Aussie version of Melrose Place.  The cast lived in an apartment building right next to Coogee Beach (like they could have afforded that).  Here is the cast in front of the building.

Here is that same apartment building today.  It was a central part of the show.  Gotta admit, it is looking a little worse for wear.  Word has it the building is slated for demolition so something more modern can be built.  Time marches on.

This sign with “Baths” is also featured in the show numerous times.

Oddly enough the actual baths below it were not.  The place was packed, but for good reason, as it was hot AND humid!

Here is the view of Coogee Beach as we start our hike up the coast to Bondi.

There are beautiful ocean sights around every turn!

I was a little amazed that this spot was as crowded as it was, as it’s just a concrete dock.  Kim did say this has the benefit of not being sandy.  Still, laying on cement?  The building across the way and the beach nearby were also used in “Wonderland”, Episode 1.  See, now ya gotta watch it!  In all honesty, it wasn’t produced well (terrible audio mix issues) BUT it has one our favorite actors, Michael Dorman (of “Patriot” fame).  Patriot is definitely a “must watch”!  You’ll thank me later!

In the middle of this beautiful walk along the ocean is the massive Waverly Cemetery.  It was shocking to see so much valuable land being used as a home for the dead!

Just opposite the cemetery was this Osprey, surveying the water and looking for his next meal.

As you reach the northern edge of the cemetery, Bondi Beach starts coming into view (far right).

The views are incredible in both directions.  This hike is a “must do”!

Just around the corner from Bondi is this unusually carved rock.

Just behind this unique rock is a rugged looking sandstone cliff face.  Kim was just happy for the shade!

You then climb up some stairs and there it is, Bondi Beach, one of Sydney’s most popular tourist traps!  In the foreground is the Bondi Icebergs Swimming Club, which has been featured in numerous movies and TV shows.  For about $20 we went for a swim in the saltwater pool, and after how hot and humid it was, it was well worth every penny!  At high tide the waves actually crash over the side and into the pool…unfortunately we missed that.

After our swim we took a stroll along Bondi Beach, as we had some time to kill before we had dinner at the Icebergs Restaurant overlooking the ocean.

The Icebergs Restaurant is on the top floor of the building adjacent to the pool.

The food at Icebergs Restaurant was better than expected, and the views are unparalleled!  The moon was just coming up as we were finishing dinner.  Despite the heat and humidity, this was a great final day in Sydney.

Coming up next, we pick up our rental car and drive to Blue Mountains National Park, 1.5 hours west of Sydney.  Yippie, I get to start driving on the wrong side of the road again!