Excursion Down Under- Part XIV

Monday, April 14, 2014- Sydney, Australia

       We were up by 6 A.M. and made preparations for a long day. We enjoyed a breakfast in the lobby of the Push Bar, connected to the Hotel Russell, and then walked over to a small plaza at the corner of Loftus and Alfred Streets. We talked with a girl from Cork, Ireland and a French Couple. My own antecedents were from Cork, so we had that in common.

       A visiting dad from Chicago, Illinois and his college daughter, who was spending her semester in Sydney, struck up a conversation with us. We were all waiting for the bus of the “Blue Mountain Tours.” Priced at $100 each, it was a nine-hour odyssey into the Blue Mountains to the west and above of Sydney. Savage wild fires had broken out there several months back, with much loss of property. Mark, our driver, picked us up and set out through the city and westward on the M-4 “Western Way” highway. Traffic was heavy on this early Monday in April.

      Our first stop was the charming “Featherdale  Nature Preserve.” It is a small collection of animals and bird life native to the area. We were absolutely charmed by the Koala Bears munching Eucalyptice leaves in their trees. The small, furry wombats also amused us. A teacher from Queensland pointed out the Cassowaries and said that they are territorial and have a mean disposition. They even looked nasty up close. A small mob of Joeys was docile as they munched on grains and bread. Every one took lots of pictures of this iconic Australian animal. Marc later told us that Australia now has one of the larger camel populations in the world, mostly grazing in outback pastures. But it was the miniature blue penguins who were the hit of the visit. The playful little creatures dove and swam and cavorted for the tourist cameras like veteran circus performers. Several large emus and a few swamp wallabies also entertained us. A twelve-foot crocodile lay sunning himself, uncaring at the staring tourists. Colorful parrots and all manner of bird life screeched and squawked as we walked by. This was a great stop. It was to be the only real look we would have of native Australian wildlife.

         From the nature preserve we continued driving upward and  westward crossing the Nepean River, the western border of metropolitan Sydney. We were now cruising along at 3,500 feet and entering the Blue Mountain Park Preserve. The entire area encompasses some 650,000 acres that include twenty-seven towns where 7600 people reside. It reminded me of the Adirondack Park  Preserve in New York State.

         We drove on through the small tourist town of Katoomba. It had been founded in the 1880’s when John Brittany North’s Katoomba coal company mined the area for coal. The railroads then shipped the ore to Sydney for export to the Asian markets.

         Mark stopped at a rural sight that overlooked the Negalong Valley. We were standing in a small clearing and looking at a raised mesa that separates the Negalong and Jamison Valleys. The 400-foot drop to the bottom here got all of our attention. Glacial forces and rising tectonic plates had uplifted this ocean bottom to the 3500-foot level where we now stood. Wind and water had eroded much of that rising plate several hundred feet, leaving these two heavily treed valleys glistening in the noonday sun below us. It was a majestic sweep of canyon that makes you appreciate the forces of nature and how many millions of years it had taken to form this scenic tableau.

        Then we drove to nearby “Look out point." A small tourist enclave here formed around two former coal funiculars that rise vertically several hundred meters up the canyon walls. They had formerly been used to haul coal up the canyon face. Now, for $35 each, we had unlimited access to them for the day. They were like rides at Disney land. Sixty of us crammed into one set of cars and virtually slid down vertically to the valley floor below.

       In the valley below, there is a raised wooden catwalk that runs for a few miles through this temperate rainforest. We admired the gum and eucalyptus trees and the cooler air here. Detritus of the old coal industry, in the form of broken and discarded machines, lay buried in the leaves of the forest all around us. One entire adit (mine opening) remained. A coal car and some mining equipment displayed some of the gear needed to extract the ore from the earth. A very steep set of stairs brought us up to another landing where w caught an even steeper funicular to the lip of the valley. I don’t mind saying that my eyes were locked shut during this quick vertical ascent to the surface.

         Some of our passengers tried to get in to the cafeteria for lunch, but it was mobbed. A dozen other tour buses had dropped off hundreds of other passengers here for the day. The swirl of different languages erupting around us is always fascinating to me. We wandered through the gift shop grabbing some energy bars and designer water for lunch. Outside, it was sunny and pleasant and in the high 60’s (F). We sat for a time and talked with the bus driver, Mark. He is an interesting Melbourner who had tried several careers before driving tour buses. He was thoughtful and knowledgeable about many areas. It is these e accidental encounters that really give you a real education when travelling.

           Another group of our companions had boarded the tram that crosses the valley to another lookout, where you had a great view of the Three Sisters. It is  an eroded rock formation comprised of three spires of rock cantilevered from the surrounding cliff. We joined the bus and headed over to pick them up. One couple was missing as we set out. They were busy taking pictures and forgot the time. Mark left us at the other lookout and went back for them. These were the only knuckleheads on the trip that day. Everyone else was considerate of others and polite, ideal traveling companions.

              We had one last scenic stop. The “Flat Rock” on the King’s Mesa. It is a spectacular vantage point to take in the whole valley. There are no handrails. I wondered how many daredevils they lose a year from people clowning around and slipping over the edge of the cliff.

            The day was getting long and we were all tiring. We boarded the bus and talked with our companions for the ninety-minute ride back to Sydney. The college girl’s dad and she were going to walk the top of the Sydney Harbor Bridge tomorrow. God Bless them. We had a pleasant exchange with them and two elementary teaches from Melbourne and Queensland.

          On the outskirts of Sydney, Mark had us disembark. He put us on a ferry for a gentle and scenic ride down the river to the circular quay near our hotel. The iconic Sydney Opera house was appealing in the late afternoon sun. It had been a pleasant day with very nice people.

        It was raining in the early evening as we set out for dinner. We found a delightfully warm and charming Italian restaurant on George Street named “Zia Pina.” The place was sro. We settled in for some very delicious mussels, clams and shrimp over Penne Pasta with a glass of Chianti. It was a great choice. Then, we walked back to our nearby hotel where I settled in to write up my notes, and enjoy a last glass of cabernet, before reading and falling into the arms of Morpheus. We had one last day in Sydney tomorrow and then we were due to fly eastward and home.