Say Goodbye Australia!

Okay, so we decided to redeem our lazy selves from our days doing quite a bit of nothing in some dreary weather. Booked a Blue Mountain bus tour, a bit of a blue-hair tour we knew but wanted to get to see a few things before heading out for good on Jan. 9.

Early start to walk to a bus stop and catch it into Sydney before entering our monstrous luxury bus! We certainly shouldn't miss the sights from the height of this walking city! So, that is a bit of an exaggeration as there was no toilet on board. Probably better in the long run right! Good mix of blue hairs, families, and younger folks. We caught a few scenic views before stopping in a cute little town for a huge lunch! Very antique looking place, sort of like my hometown Annapolis on a smaller scale with no water. Back on the bus to Scenic World where we took a sky train with a clear floor, an extremely steep train, and then a large tram where we actually couldn't see anything because they shove so many people in the darn thing! We caught some views here of the Three Sisters rock formation but saw better views later on at another scenic lookout.

The legend is that the shaman of the Aboriginal tribe turned three sisters into the rocks to save them during a war but couldn't change them back when he lost his magic stick. They also say he became a peacock and continues to root around the forest floors looking for the magic stick. Well, that's what I remember of the story anyway - I wouldn't vouch for it being 100% accurate.

The next stop was at a Wildlife Preserve for only indigenous animals, including the Koala and the kangaroo or walloughby (sp.?). We were able to pet (or pat as they called it) a number of the Koala, definitely a highlight! Made this entire tour worthwhile. We also drove through Sydney's Olympic park which is an odd thing to see with no people around. Next, we caught a Rivercat jet boat back to the city and had some dinner at Wagamama Japanese restaurant. Thanks to our friend Vig (American) who we met in NZ for giving us some coupons! Yeah, to a free bottle of wine and who says Americans aren't the best?! Oh, we also saw the Opera House at night, which was gorgeous. I have to mention the dessert at the restaurant because it was a great mix of flavors, chocolate mousse with a wasabi ganache center. Odd but delicious!

Our last day in Sydney we did some laundry and thanked our friend Bob for sharing his space with us for our last few days in town. Off to Thailand!