October 29, 2006

Sydney & Blue Mountains

Off to the Blue Mountains via a tour booked almost two months ago...
My sister was/is so right about this one. Although interesting and verging on beautiful at points the majesty of the Blue Mountains compares to … I’m struggling… looking at Angel Island all on its own. Yep, its an island and its located on water; two good points of interest. There is some history there, but if you visited San Francisco and only peered across the bay you have experienced at least 50% of the benefit. Still, after visiting either Angel Island or the Blue Mountains one can say, “Great, not life altering but not bad either.”



Actually, the best parts of the Blue Mountain tour day had nothing to do with the mountains at all. We went to a wild life park and saw many native species, with the highlight for me definitely being petting a wombat. The lumbering hairy bulldozers are hardly active in the day-time, preferring to sleep either in a dug out hole or hollow log. Astonishingly, one was out and about walking very closely to his fence. So, being the silly tourist, I reached over and gave him a good petting on his surprisingly soft back. He would walk back and forth, much like a dog, from one direction to the other underneath his human petting machine. (Much better than the rock he was rubbing against earlier.) Of course it wasn’t until after this mutual affection session that I noticed the sign, “Careful, We Bite!”



Of course, one can never pass up the opportuntity for picture with an actual Koala.



Too much feeding makes everyone tired.



The other site seeing portion of the trip, which was exhilarating, was the trip back from Homebush, site of the Sydney Olympic Games, via Super Cat boat. These are the Ferraris of passenger ferries. They have a very low profile and are, I believe, water jet powered. The ride is incredibly smooth and from a “timing perspective” actually beats the bus back to down town Sydney by about 20 minutes. I highly recommend the experience and at a whopping $6 bucks AU it is an “amusement steal”.



Arguably the most fulfilling part of the day was sharing it with two new friends, Michelle and Michael. Michelle was my partner in crime for the day, having met on the bus before leaving Sydney, and Michael was in the tour group but we met up on the ferry ride back to Circular Quay. Michelle is an energetic Mother of two from Connecticut visiting Sydney on a business trip with her company Lego. We had a great time swapping stories and finding humor throughout the day.



Michael works for Random House in NYC and has a great disposition. After reaching his 10th anniversary at work, he was afforded a month long sabbatical and chose Australia as his destination. The biggest blessing of this trip so far has been meeting great people along the way who feel like long time friends after a few hours.




Blue Mountains Facts

• Not actually mountains at all, rather large hills with pretty sharp canyon walls, which are the key interest point.

• Not really blue either, but get this name from the haze that rises above the canyons and hills as a result of the Eucalyptus trees releasing their natural oils into the air via evaporation. Think of blue smog.



• The number one “Honeymoon” location in Australia, no quite sure why.

• The Blue Mountains were once thought impenetrable, due to the many box canyons, but eventually crossed by English explorers, who were of course shown the route by the native Aboriginal Peoples. This naturally resulted in a road being built within only a few years of this native route sharing and immediate acquisition of lands from the native Aboriginal peoples beyond the Blue Mountains. The big “A Ha” moment for the English, who kept trying to cross the mountain range via the valleys, which led to box canyons, was to follow the Aboriginal guides along the ridge line. With the benefit of history, it is a little bewildering why these flat landed Brits couldn’t make the simple strategic paradigm shift from years and countless failed valley expeditions to “Hmmm, why don’t we try walking on the ridge line?” Of course these are the same military geniuses who thought it would be great to stand in perfect lines, fully exposed, during battle and fire back and forth in organized attrition volleys. (Just joking, ripping, here English friends.)

• High-light, views of the “Three Sisters, a rock formation of three minarets extending beyond a gorge vista from a “free” city parking lot.




• Low-light, "Scenic World", the requisite converted “coal mine tourist trap” along the gorge walls with views of the “Three Sisters”. Think of an Australian “Disney Land” around a Eucalyptus/Coal/Vista theme, complete with rusting in-operable roller coaster (not legally permitted to run due to inability to pass safety permits).