Sydney #2

On our second day in Sydney we enjoyed a very long trip to the Blue Mountains, about 60 miles from Sydney. The bus ride was uneventful on the Great Western Highway, one of only a few major highways around the perimeter of the country. At the Blue Mountains — hills really — we enjoyed the grandeur of nature from four different perspectives. The scenic railway bills itself as the steepest passenger train in the world at a 52 degree incline and it was hard to stay in our seats for sure. Thankfully it was a short ride! From there we walked in the gorgeous rain forest full of 15′ high tree ferns and all sorts of other lush foliage. It was a lovely, peaceful walk and since it had many plants in common with the PNW rain forests we felt quite at home.

It was hard to get a picture of the tree ferns but you can see one on the left above and the top of one below.

Here the vegetation was more of eucalyptus trees of which, we learned, Australia has 100 varieties. We heard many birds in the trees but only got to see these cockatoos.

We also rode the Skyway and the Cableway at Scenic World and enjoyed views of the Three Sisters, the Orphan Rock and the expansive Jamison Valley. We enjoyed a beautiful waterfall and, of course, I enjoyed some colorful lichen.

On the way home we stopped in a lovely little town which was buzzing with shoppers. Many of the people on our cruise want to shop everywhere we stop which confuses us a bit since they are all about as old as we are and we can’t figure out what they still need!

As we neared our ship the bus driver took a detour and drove over the Sydney Harbor Bridge. We have looked up at it so often that it was nice to be driving over it for once. From the back deck at dinner we could see the people walking over the top of it and I could identify with them as I remembered climbing it on our last visit here. The Sydney Opera House is most beautiful at sunset and as we looked at it several people were asking themselves if this would be their last view of it. Why that particular building prompts that question I really can’t imagine.