So with World Youth Day 2008 over, I now go from a pilgrimage mode to more of a vacation mode. So I left the Central Sydney YHA today and picked up my car at Avis. At this point I'm really excited but REALLY nervous about driving. I go and put my stuff in the trunk and the first thing I do is go and almost get into the passenger seat. Talk about a bad omen. I was freaking out. I go to use my directional, and oh wait...that's on the right. So instead I sent my wipers going. For the most part I have gotten a hang of it by now but God forbid I have to like parallel park or do anything remotely skillful with this thing.
I headed about 100km west to the Blue Mountains. Lonely Planet says that they are called that because of something that is given off by the eucalyptus trees...interesting! You'll see what I'm talking about in one of the pictures below.
Before setting off to see the mountains themselves I went to lunch in the town center and had fish and chips. But it wasn't just any fish. It's one that I'm pretty sure I have never had before -- barramundi. It was pretty darn good. Very thick, almost like chicken meat, except it was fish.
While I was finishing up my meal I was looking out at the street and saw a California group that I had seen at least 3 or 4 times during World Youth Day. They saw me and yelled "BOSTON!" How do I keep running into these guys.
OK...so the Blue Mountains. I went to a place called Echo Point on the Blue Mountain range. It had unbelievable views which you can see below. It also had a Giant Staircase that runs from the top viewpoint down into the forested area. This staircase was great to go DOWN, but it was horrible to have to climb up. While down there I went on a 1km walk and didn't run into anyone on the way. It was pretty cool to get away from all the touristy atmosphere and spend some time in quiet. The forest was so dense there that you thought it was much later than it actually was because of the darkness. Up above the wind was truly howling. It's a wonder someone doesn't get blown off into the valley with the way the wind was blowing.
The thing that this area of the mountains is most known for is the Three Sisters. The name for the rock formation actually comes from an Aboriginal story where three sisters were basically turned into rocks to protect them from some nasty creatures but their father (who used a magical bone to do so) lost the bone and is still looking for it today.
After my long day at the Blue Mountains I headed back towards Sydney and decided to stay in Manly to the north of Sydney. This will allow me to go to the Taronga Zoo in the morning and then who knows what will happen then!?
I headed about 100km west to the Blue Mountains. Lonely Planet says that they are called that because of something that is given off by the eucalyptus trees...interesting! You'll see what I'm talking about in one of the pictures below.
Before setting off to see the mountains themselves I went to lunch in the town center and had fish and chips. But it wasn't just any fish. It's one that I'm pretty sure I have never had before -- barramundi. It was pretty darn good. Very thick, almost like chicken meat, except it was fish.
While I was finishing up my meal I was looking out at the street and saw a California group that I had seen at least 3 or 4 times during World Youth Day. They saw me and yelled "BOSTON!" How do I keep running into these guys.
OK...so the Blue Mountains. I went to a place called Echo Point on the Blue Mountain range. It had unbelievable views which you can see below. It also had a Giant Staircase that runs from the top viewpoint down into the forested area. This staircase was great to go DOWN, but it was horrible to have to climb up. While down there I went on a 1km walk and didn't run into anyone on the way. It was pretty cool to get away from all the touristy atmosphere and spend some time in quiet. The forest was so dense there that you thought it was much later than it actually was because of the darkness. Up above the wind was truly howling. It's a wonder someone doesn't get blown off into the valley with the way the wind was blowing.
The thing that this area of the mountains is most known for is the Three Sisters. The name for the rock formation actually comes from an Aboriginal story where three sisters were basically turned into rocks to protect them from some nasty creatures but their father (who used a magical bone to do so) lost the bone and is still looking for it today.
After my long day at the Blue Mountains I headed back towards Sydney and decided to stay in Manly to the north of Sydney. This will allow me to go to the Taronga Zoo in the morning and then who knows what will happen then!?
My Rental Hotness
A Truly GIANT Staircase
The 1K walk to Leura Forest
Three Sisters at Sundown. Notice the BLUE mist.
That's me...at Echo Point...Yeah
The Three Sisters
A Pretty Large Expanse
The Katoomba Cascades
The Katoomba Falls
Nehemiah Found a Large Friend
2 comments:
nice rental!! What kind of car is that? Looks like some kind of Mitsubishi/Nissan mix.
Check out this pic....totally awesome!
http://www.cardinalseansblog.org/wp-content/uploads/2008/07/20080716cnsbr00477.jpg
It is a Holden Commodore SV6. Check it out here: http://www.holden.com.au/www-holden/action/modeloverview?modelid=4004
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