Blue Mountain tour day. February 6, 2019

Early morning :-(.  We grabbed a taxi at 6:10 am and headed over to a location downtown to pick up our small-group tour to the Blue Mountains – 10 of us, and a very compatible group we were.  Our guide, Scottie, was an absolute delight, about as authentic an Aussie as you could find, as well as a great story teller.  He was from the Blue Mountain area and was a seventh generation descendent of a couple of convicts who were sent to Australia for stealing food.  His family settled in the area, and a river and a road were named after his ancestors.  He was very proud of his family and his heritage.  He also told wonderful stories about his own travel adventures (like being deported twice, once after spending a day in jail in China and another time from the UK).

We stopped at a wonderful park area in the Blue Mountains and another individual was there who had set up a picnic table for us and made an excellent “barbie” egg and ham sandwich.  The area was beautiful, but the highlight was taking a walk around searching for Eastern Gray Kangaroos in the wild.  We found some and were able to get quite close.  It was a delight.  Julie wanted to see them hop fast and suggested that she would walk up close to them, that everyone should have their video cameras ready, and that perhaps they would hop away.  Scottie suggested that since they were somewhat cornered by a ravine, they would feel threatened and attack her.  Julie, being wise, took that advice and started walking backwards. . . .

our breakfast in the park in the "bush"

an Eastern Gray Kangaroo in the bush

The wonders of the day were only beginning, however.

Next stop was the Dinosaur Valley where we went on three "rides," strolled through a rain forest, saw remnants of coal mining in the area, and partook in the gorgeous views, including that of the ”Three Sisters.”

The first ride was what was proclaimed to be the steepest incline railway in the world, but Scottie thought this was only because the seats were slanted too.  Anyway – it WAS steep and took us from the top of the mountainous area into the rain forest.  Fun ride.

We then hiked through the rain forest. The air was deliciously clean smelling, the views spectacular, the sound of the birds quite wonderful.  It was on this walk that we also saw the remnants of coal mining in the area.

Our second ride was in a boxed enclosure back up the mountain.  Again – wonderful.

Then we moved over to our third ride on a gondola which took us over an immense valley.  Spectacular views below us, including white cockatoos looking like white dots on the canopy of the forest below.

the Three Sisters

The day was not done!  We had lunch at an authentic spot (kidney meat pie, anyone?) in one of the little Blue Mountain Villages, and then headed to the Featherdale Wildlife Park.  It was hot. . . . But outside of seeing many of the same animals as we did yesterday (still exciting), we also recognized the immense diversity of the birds in Australia.  We saw a couple of black cockatoos with their yellow markings.  We had seen a few of these flying during the day, and Scottie was quite excited every time we saw one because he said it was quite rare to see them in the wild.  They are beautiful.  Again, we saw Cassowarys, lorikeets (which were fun to see because Quinn and Julian feed the lorikeets every time we go to the Aviary in Pittsburgh), kookabura, ibises, fascinatingly different kinds of owls, skates, and a plethora of beautifully colored birds.

We still weren’t done!  We next headed to a pier on the P.  River and took a 45-minute boat ride down the river to get back to Sydney – beautiful houses on the shores, sailboats, Cockatoo Island, other islands, famous bridges overhead, and then the view of Sydney from the water.  Spectacular.

Not actually our catamaran boat, but ours was like this one.

Great day which wasn’t over yet.  Gil took us to another of the restaurants on his list – this one a world-class Thai place called Long Chim Sydney.  Not sure what we possessed us, but we decided to do the 9-course prix fixe meal.  Delicious, especially when mixed in with a couple of martinis, along with some local beer, and some wine.  The Betel Leaf appetizer and the spicy cashew appetizer were big hits, but all was excellent.

Again, bed felt good!