Day 06 - The Blue Mountains

Location: Blue Mountains National Park
Weather: Cloudy with some blue sky
We woke up earlier this morning (at 7:15) so we could catch our tour bus to the Blue Mountains! The only problem was that we couldn’t find the hotel where the bus was supposed to pick us up! It was getting down to the wire, but finally, Hilary spotted the bus and we flagged him down. Phew!
We went to their central office, switched busses to our tour bus and began our journey. Our bus driver / tour guide was great, telling us stories about how Australia was colonized and about the recent and ancient history of this huge island continent. He told us the origin of Billy Tea.
It was made in discarded beef tins which were imported from France. Prospectors in the gold-rush era would put handles on the tins and boil water for their tea.
And now, I’m on the bus, writing in this journal. Hmm … I’m all caught up … read more later. Here … I’ll give you a pause button

We just had a little Billy Tea and Anzac biscuits (or cookies as we refer to them) and walked down a whole bunch of steps to go to an amazing overlook.

We could see the Wentworth Falls, took a few pictures, and marched all the way back up again. There was a lot of vegetation in the area and we were attacked by a fine variety of flies. :)


We took another 10 minute photo stop overlooking the mountains. There were no cookies this time, though. :( Everything is beautiful that we’ve seen, but we haven’t seen the blue in the mountains, yet. I took a bathroom stop and ran back so I wouldn’t miss the bus. It’s a good thing I’m writing this as the day goes on, because otherwise, everyone would miss out on this level of detail I’ve provided.

Our next stop was a scenic world! We’re still in the Blue Mountains, but we got a good look at the rock formation called the 3 sisters.
We waited in a long line with our boxed lunch, and went on the steepest train in the world (with a 52 degree incline). They played the Indiana Jones theme music as we descended. It felt almost like anelevator (or a roller-coaster). It used to be a coal transport system, but now, it transports people!

We walked along the nature trail at the bottom of the track and saw more of the historical uses of the area. Hilary had flashbacks of riding a horse called “Studly” through the Waipio Valley! On the trail, there was much wildlife and trees we’re not used to seeing, like Eucalyptus trees.


After our walk, we went up the cable car to the top area again.


They had some statues of “the three sisters” who apparently are naked and so was the aboriginal man who turned them to stone.

Before getting back on the bus, Hilary bought some white chocolate M & Ms! They’re sweeter than I was used to! Also, they call “Diet Pepsi” “Pepsi Light” and they call “Burger King” “Hungry Jacks.”

We took a tour of the Olympic Stadium. It looked like they were trying to offset the $200 million loss they incur every year by building real-estate and putting more tourist attractions in the space.
We got dropped off (last) at our hotel and then got ready for the beach! Manly Beach! It got its name from a governor who passed by and saw an abundance of Strong-looking aboriginal men. So he called it “ Manly Beach.”

When we got on the ferry, we saw clouds gathering overhead. :( It started to drizzle. We arrived and tried to make the best of things. We walked up “ Corso Street” and ate fries (or “chips as they call them here), sitting on the edge of the beach. There was a little girl drawing stars in the sand and the mother told her to stop drawing them because they might be offensive. She was drawing stars of David. She said, “But that’s how I draw a star!” Later, her father said, “Come on, rich bitch. Let’s go.” Perhaps the parents should have been more concerned about their own language. Or perhaps they don’t have the same negative connotation for the word “bitch” here. Hmmm …
Then, we were getting cold, so we went walking back up “ Corso Street.” There was a bevy of store signs with puns in their title all next to each other. We tried a meat pie. It tasted like shepherd’s pie, and then split a “Fuel” burger. It was a fast-food chain with healthy(er) options, like multigrain whole wheat buns with low fat mayo and beats for toppings!
Afterwards, we were looking for a coffee place, “Candy’s Coffee” but we couldn’t find it, so we ducked into an internet café and emailed our friends and family back home.
On the way back to the ferry terminal we had some gellatisimo-brand gelato and waited. So, what we lacked in good weather, we made up with great food!