Blue Mountains - October 2008

After my folks had headed slightly further north and we had been back to Sydney, the following weekend it was time to meet up again. This time in the Blue Mountains.

The Blue Mountains are about an hour west of Sydney. It is essentially a large Sandstone plataeu, covered in native eucalypt bush. The eucalyptus trees, when the temperature rises give of vapour. This vapour causes the dispersion of the visible blue spectrum of the light more than the others so it gives the impression of a blue haze.

Anyway, my parents had rented a lovely little cottage in a village called Leura. The village is just down the road from the main civilisation of Katoomba.

The main attractions in the Blue Mountains is the scenery. And one of the most famous scenes of all is the Three Sisters. This is literally at the edge of Katommba. Three sandstone pillars, allegedly sisters in aboriginal folk lore, standing over looking the valley. I think the story continues along the lines of a wedding or something but I am not really sure. Personally I think the view from one of the other lookouts is much more impressive. I can;t remember the name of it right now, which is useful, but if I do I will update. Anyway, the view is just so much bigger. Wider expanse of the enourmous sandstone bush covered chasm. Amazing.

The Sunday was spent on the Zig Zag Railway. The Zig Zag Railway is an old section of track, in a zig-zag formation. It was once part of the main railway line out of Sydney heading West. The Blue Mountains were in the way, and seeing as they couldn't tunnel through them they had to up and down them. The zig-zag was built to lessen the gradient on the western side. On each leg of the trip down the zig-zag, the engine has to disconnect from the train, run round to the front (or back) and reconnect, pulling the train on the next downward leg. Make sense? It was quite a clever way of getting down a steep hill in a train. It is operated today by enthusiasts, and they mainly run old steam engines. I love the smell of the steam and coal and hot oil. Reminds me of days at Dorridge station when the special steam trains used to visit.

It was an interesting run, although a little short.

Then it was back to Sydney as my folks carried on down the coast to Kiama and the blowhole.

30

I am now 30!!! Doesn't time fly when you are having fun!?! And to have made it here in one piece - amazing!!! Hehe.

Parental Visit - October 2008

My parents are here to visit me!!! They landed on 4th October at Sydney airport after a stop over in Singapore. A little weary Rachel and myself met them at the airport (just - we got lost on the way) and whisked them off to our flat where they would stay for the first week.

I had the week off work so I could show them the sights of the city. We went to the Zoo and saw some antipodean wildlife (including a baby koala), Watsons Bay for the views of the city and the harbour and National Park for a spot of beach action and bush (countryside) viewing.

It was a very relaxing week. And it was finished off by a weekend trip to the Hunter Valley. The Hunter Valley is, believe it or not a valley for the Hunter River. Who'd have thought. Anyway, the important thing is that due to the soils and the climate it is a very good area for growing grapes that make wine. Excellent.

After a couple of hours drive north we navigated our way through the wineries and vineyards and found our cabin for the weekend. We were staying in a little self catering place in amongst the wineries. BBQ cooking for tea every day - it was fab.

The Saturday was the wine day. Dad kindly offered to be the taxi and Rachel, mum and myself set about tasting the wines. It was good fun and interesting. One of the Vinyards exported 70% of the wine it made to Tesco in the UK. would you believe it. You come all this way and Tesco down the road could have sold you the same wine at probably half the price. Never mind. The tour of the winery was very interesting and insightful.

At the end of the day we had navigated round several vineyards, bought (Rach and I) 18 bottles of wine, tried many more and joined a wine club. Some of the wine was fantastic. Really fantastic.

The Sunday was spent at the Hunter Valley Gardens. Then it was back to the cabin for a BBQ before Rach and I headed back to Sydney. the parents stayed Sunday night then headed slightly further north to the coast for a relaxing few days and some dolphin watching.