Day One
It was late afternoon when we drove into Sydney across the iconic Harbour Bridge and the city certainly ensured she was at her best for us. The glistening harbour, the lush green of the Botanic Gardens and the sunlight reflecting off the imposing skyscrapers and opera house - everything welcomed us to our final destination on the east coast.
We spent out first evening at Gaff, a bar run by former Oz Experience drivers, where we got fish and chips, an all-you-can-eat salad bar and three drinks for just $5. Finished the night off sitting in an irish bar listening to live music. Great start for Sydney.
Day Two
Struck out early determined to tick off the Sydney sights. Started at Circular Quay and ambled along the waterfront taking in the bronze plaques of Writers' Walk, powerful and evocative quotations from various literary masters documenting their impressions of and experiences in Australia. From there we made our way to the nearby - and FREE - Rocks Museum via Cadman's Cottage, the oldest private house still standing in Sydney. The Rocks Museum was an informative and brilliantly presented little exhibition on this notorious Sydney district, depicting the lives of both the Cadigal (Sydney's original inhabitants) and the first european settlers. I found it fascinating to finally get a sense of Australia's history - nowhere else we have stopped along the east coast has seemed aware of or particularly shaped by either its aboriginal origins or its colonial past. However, it was also sad to think that the greed and ignorance of Europe allowed us, or rather compelled us, to impose ourselves upon and ultimately wipe out the indigenous population - the majority of the Cadigal died of suspected smallpox shortly after the first settlements were established. It's depressing that we felt the need to "claim" and exploit faraway land rather than just discover it, destroying everything that stood in the way of our grand scheme for progress.
From the museum we walked across the Harbour Bridge for some good views of the opera house but these were marred somewhat by persistent heavy cloud. We then headed off in pursuit of a closer look, passing through the Rocks - the heart of historic Sydney - and stopping to look at some of the city's oldest buildings which have been sympathetically renovated and preserved, including the old customs house where a union jack flag always flies to mark the spot where the English first settled.
That evening, worn out from our day of dedicated sightseeing, we did nothing more than head to Gaff for our cheap dinner (chicken curry this time) and pack our rucksacks for the Blue Mountains trip the next day. When a 6am wake up call is in the pipeline, I find it pays to be prepared!
Day Three
Got picked up bright and early by our friendly guide Jimmy and headed out to the Blue Mountains National Park, all 10300 square kilometres of it. Out first stop was Euroka where we watched wild eastern grey kangaroos, the second largest kangaroo in Australia, feeding and saw a little joey poke its head out of the pouch for the very first time.
Afterwards, we had a short stop in Glenbrook, where Jimmy pointed out remnants of a bush fire which swept through the area on Christmas day a couple of years ago - some people were forced to evacuate and, after the fire, found that they had no home to go back to. I can't even begin to imagine that sort of devastation. We lead such a sheltered existence in the UK where the only real threats we face are those we pose to ourselves and each other; we know nothing of the cruelty of nature. We are distanced from so many natural disasters - no earthquakes, bushfires, hurricanes - and have no known predators left. I can't imagine living in a country where humans are not top of the food chain, a country where a swim in the sea might involve a shark attack or a jellyfish wrapping itself around your leg, where a paddle in a river might culminate in a wrestle with a crocodile, or where striking out into the woods might result in a bite from a poisonous snake.
Leaving Glenbrook, we headed deeper into the national park. It really is beautiful: lush green valleys hemmed in by sandstone cliffs scuplted by erosion and the colour of rust from their exposure to the air - all with the blue haze of eucalyptus oil lingering above. Next on the agenda was the Furber Steps walk, a walk down into the Jamison Valley involving 1000 steps. Here we caught our first glimpse of the three sisters and heard the aborginal story of how they came into being...
There was a magic man named Tayan; he could make anything with his special kangaroo foot bone. He had three daughters and, when he went hunting in the Jamison Valley, he would leave them on the clifftop so they were safe from the Bunyip (a yeti-like creature). One day, they were sitting there and one of the sisters spotted a grub on a rock nearby. She threw a small stone but it fell into the valley, hitting the Bunyip and waking him up. He looked up, saw the sisters and began to climb up to get them. As he did so, a crack appeared in the cliff, blocking the daughters' escape route and trapping them at the edge of the cliff. Frightened, they called out to their father who tried to use his magic foot bone but realised it did not work against the Bunyip. With time runing out to save his daughters, he pointed his magic bone and turned all three into rocks so that they Bunyip could not get them. Seeing this, the enraged Bunyip began to chase Tayan through the valley. The magic man soon found himself trapped in a corner with only a small hole to escape through; this time, he turned to bone on himself, transforming himself into a lyre bird and squeezing through the gap. Once the Bunyip had gone, the lyre bird came out to turn himself back into a man but realised that he had dropped his bone. The story goes that he was unable to find it and to this day the lyre bird spends its time scratching in the dirt to find the bone, transform itself back into Tayan and finally bring his daughters back to life.
Once at the bottom of the valley, we took the world's steepest train back to the top. The Jamison Valley used to be a major mining area and this railway, on a 50 degree incline, was orginally built to transport coal from the mine to the top of the cliff face. When the last mine was closed in the 1950s, it turned into a tourist service. It was great, much more exciting than the peak tram, with the seats facing backwards so you could see the valley bottom getting further and further away during the ascent.
Our next stop was Echo Point for a closer look at the three sisters, followed by a lunch of steak pies which were delicious but could have been twice as big! After lunch came the most strenuous part of our day: the Wentworth Falls bush walk. A round trip into the valley comprising 900 steep steps - we were hot and exhausted by the time we returned to the top but it was worth it to see the largest waterfall in the Blue Mountains.
The final stop of the day was Swiss Rock, a beautiful lookout with an intriguing story behind it. During the war, the German population of Australia was sent to POW camps. There was apparently a German couple running a shop in nearby Katoomba, both of whom were greatly valued by the local community. Instead of giving the couple up to the authorities, the locals decided to hide them in a cave below Swiss Rock and this alleged hiding place still remains today.
Arriving back in Sydney, we rushed around the corner to the Capitol Theatre where we had seen advertisements for the musical Wicked. By some stroke of luck, we arrived just minutes before their Wicked lottery - participants put their name in a box and those drawn out win front row seats worth more than $100 for just $30! Unfortunately, we had to stand there looking like children who have had their sweets confiscated while everyone elses name was drawn out and ours remained steadfastly in the box. Leaving the scene of our disappointment promptly, we wandered down to the harbour and wacthed darkness creep in, the opera house and the harbour bridge light up, and the world pass us by. A very relaxed and contented end to a great day after all.
Day Four
What a perfect day to end our time in Australia - literally every last little thing went to plan. We awoke to bright sunshine (at last!) and, feeling very glad to have left our beach hopping until the last day, we donned our bikinis and headed down to Darling Harbour. Caught the ferry around to Circular Quay and enjoyed spectacular views of the harbour bridge, the opera house and the Sydney skyline against a mercifully blue sky. Got to Circular Quay just in the nick of time for the next ferry to Manly Island, which is pleasant but more developed than I anticipated. I was expecting quaint buildings, untouched beaches and beautiful scenery, not a high street that wouldn't be out of place in any of the towns we've stayed in. Ate lunch in a pavement cafe - fish, chips, calamari and salad - relaxed on the beach soaking up the sun for an hour, then caught the ferry back over to the mainland. From there, it was a bus to Bondi Beach wherer we treated ourselves to an ine cream, watched some of the surf competition and tried not to let the wind make off with all our belongings.
Caught to bus back to Sydney at around 5pm with a vague idea of attempting to enter the Wicked lottery again, gluttons for punishment that we are. Of course, by 5.45pm when we were tantalisingly close and stuck in a traffic jam just 50m from our stop, we were so eager to make it anyone watching would think our lives depended on getting to that theatre foyer by 6pm. An agonising five minutes of waiting followed, during which we practically sat on the driver's shoulder in our impatience to get the bus moving. As soon as that bus came to a stop, we were off and running the three blocks to the theatre. Got there literally one minute before the draw and managed to scribble our names down and get the paper in the box. Everyone then stood with baited breath as she pulled the names out one by one. The first two were drawn out and everyone clapped the lucky ones (we didn't - we wanted the tickets, why would we applaud their success)!? Then she drew out the third name and it was mine!! Yes, mine! Our excitement was so great that actually people laughed at us. I don't blame them. After all, we were jumping up and down, holding hands and squealing in delight - i'm not sure anyone has ever wanted Wicked tickets that much?
What a perfect end to our final day in Australia - the show was outstanding. Excellent cast, fantastic costumes and a beautiful set - altogether an amazing production. Not that I ever don't enjoy the theatre. That moment when the curtain comes up, the stage lights up, the cast walks on and the orchestra starts playing is just magical - my heart beats faster and the hairs on the back of my neck stand up on end. I just love it.
After the show, we ran back to the hostel, quickly made noodles (to eat then) and cheese sandwiches (to eat at the airport), packed our rucksacks, then got into bed to sleep for the three short hours until our shuttle bus to the airport...
Goodbye Australia, hello New Zealand!!
