Blue Mountains to the "Bush Capital" of Australia

 

 

Our Day 2 in the Blue Mountains started at a bakery on Main Street (below), with freshly baked meat pies, a (British?) tradition in Australia. And some sweet, buttery cinnamon roll, too. 

Also, we went for a walk after breakfast and found the first real murals in Australia, in Katoomba!

 

 

 

On to the Blue Mountains Heritage Center after check-out, where we learned a little bit more about the history of the region and the Aborigines:

,,, but, most impressive: the nature itself: endless green-blueish softly waving hills grown over with Eucalyptus and ferns, with waterfalls and some rugged reddish sandstone inbetween. At Govetts Leap, another observation point, several trails started and we hiked at least a short one.

See the waterfall and the "Hanging Swamp" (below) - I assume ferns and lichen and mosses?

Wish, we would have had planned more time here, but how could we know? Therefore, we drove another 300 km or so towards Canberra. Again, winding roads, sides often unmarked and unpaved, road constructions, crests and steep decends, bumps and potholes. I had assumed, that due to the distances roads are straight and smooth, but,,, wrong! It's not really relaxing like in the U.S.A. to drive long distances, almost never can use the Cruise Control, always full attention necessary. Some roadkill, too, and rarely places to stop on the way.

 

Landscape became a bit more "agricultural" after we left the Blue Mountains, more grain fields, and, cow and sheep pasture. Merino Sheep (see below in the background) are very common, 80% of the wool is supposed to come from Australia!

In a pretty non-distinct town we stopped for a break and had a little "Snacky" as the Australians say (they tend to belittle many words, like "breaky" for breakfast or "barby" for BBQ). Freddo Frogs (below) are an Australian icon. The Freddo Frog was created in 1930 as an appealing, affordable chocolate treat.

On the last stretch of way on the autobahn into Canberra, the capitol of Australia, we hit a real ugly rainstorm. Visibility went down to almost zero, water came down horizontally, road was flooded and driving was no fun at all. It took about 15 min., then it fortunately slowed down, shortly before we reached Canberra. Glad, that the car will stay in the garage tomorrow!

Blue Mountains 1 - Nature feeling

From Cessnock we drove on lonely Putti Road through two National Parks, Wollemi and Yengo NP, a three-hour drive, over 200 km in southern direction, getting closer to the Sydney metro area again. First, we were meeting perhaps five cars on 100 km, then a bit more traffic. Wished they would have been more stops on the drive, but no trailheads, only one bikers' rest area and no viewpoints. It became a bit monotonous and driving is not so much fun here as in the U.S., always curves, roadwork, crests, steep decents and narrow lanes.

Our first stop was at the Blue Mountains Visitor Center in Glenbrook (photo). What followed then, exceeded our expectations and was a compensation for the rather boring drive: the Blue Mountains National Park. There is no entrance fee to the park, but a parking fee at certain points.

Wentworth Falls Lookout - unfortunately, almost all trails, but a short one were closed for construction work. Also, we noticed that signage and map accuracy weren't really perfect. So, we drove on after having enjoyed the view below:

Much better, our next stop at Leura Cascades. We hiked on one of the trails down to the pools and up to a viewpoint called "Bridal Veil Falls Lookout". Lush vegetation, many different ferns, especially high palm ferns, Eucalyptus and other rainforest vegetation. Rather shady and pleasant! A a great hike of an hour or so despite of 25 deg. C up here in about 1,200 m height. 

Didn't do our research on flora and fauna yet. Eucalyptus is predominant, and ferns of all kinds. Also, wedidn't see many animals - with the exception of a possum (from our balcony in Sydney), cockatoos, parakeets, and,,, kangaroos and wombats as roadkill,,, on the drive.

Eucalyptus, shredding (above)

Last stop in the park was at one of the highlights, the "Three Sisters" - on the two photos above - a three-peak mountain formation. Most crowded point, many busses and a visitor center which, unfortunately, shut down at 4 pm! (BTW: that's something typically Australian: stores closing at 5 pm - even in Sydney at 6 pm! - and wineries or visitors' centers even earlier).

 

Drove into Katoomba afterwards, the heart of the Blue Mountains, and, our headquarters for this night. First developed as a tourist destination towards the end of the 19th century with a series of hotels it is a much more attractive town than Cessnock the night before! 

Nice main street (left) with historic buildings, which have lost some of their former splendor, many restaurants and (closed) outdoor equipment stores, vintage/antique stores and,,, good for us: a local brewery in an old warehouse, packed with locals. They not only had super IPAs (thanks to an American brewmaster, because usually, Australian beers tend to be very light-bodied pale ales or XPAs with 3-4%) and delicious, (other than the beer) not-expensive pub grub (we had the Poutine, 6 Euro and a BBQ Chicken Burger, 13 Euro). On their terrace we enjoyed the rest of the evening before we walked back to our motel (nothing fancy again, but convenient). 

 

 

Driving was still some sort of challenge, always on high alert to avoid mistakes like ending up on the right side after turning right or switching the blinker the wrong way (right is down, left is up). And, all this stupid round-abouts ,,, Noticed it's easier to follow other cars then to be completely on your own, and, to plan turns long in advance, not spontanuously. Brain is too slow for that!

Australian Wine: The Hunter Valley

Monday morning ,,, we packed our luggage, had our last breakfast on the balcony, took the light rail and the train and walked the 10 minutes over to our rental car station closeby the airport to pick up our car at East Coast Car Rentals. It was a bit annoying to explain what we have booked and what we don't want, and, it took some time until we got our car, a KIA Stonic. Smaller than we had expected for Midsize, but pretty new and okay. Automatic gear, of course.

Well, all the rest was rather not okay, all screwed up and confusing: driver sitting on the right, gear shift on the left, blinker on the right (plus, left and right the other way around), belt on the right, wiper on the left, rearview mirror to the left. Well,,, we made it safely out of town on the 8-lane autobahns, but it cost me some nerves! Then, we drove on winding, partly steep side roads through Eucalyptus forrests and national parks to the north, towards Hunter Valley, a famous wine-growing region. 

Problem with left-side driving - for me for the first time - is 1st: tending to drive too far left for whatever reason,,, 2nd: the blinker, and, 3rd: being careful to always stay on the left lane, especially when turning directions or getting out of a parking lot. Hope I'll get better used to it in the next couple of days. Fortunately, I have a good navigator, who is now not only telling me directions, but, also reminds me of left and right,,,

We drove over 220 km on Monday along the Central Coast north to the wine region Hunter Valley, part of it through vast Eucalyptus forrests on windy, narrow, steep roads. Signage different from what we know from the U.S., too. Not much traffic on the side roads and not many opportunities to enjoy the views or to stop for a break.
 
Our first stop was at Wollombi, a historic village not far away from our final destination,  Cessnock. They have a "historic" General Store (below) and some historic buildings, but nothing too exciting. Therefore we headed on to Pokolbin, one of three wine-growing regions in the Hunter Valley.

First stop: Peterson Wines (they don't call it winery here, but "Cellar Door"). This winery has been at the forefront of the wine industry in the Hunter Valley since 1971. We had a tasting on their terrace. The wineries in this region are very elite and beautiful, though the whole setting is a bit different from what we know from California, and, many wineries serve mainly as event/wedding venues, and, probably most business goes on on weekends. Due to missing signage and such, it's sometimes difficult to decide where to stop,,,

With a stop at the Visitor Center we drove on to another winery in a prominent location: Audrey Wilkinson, on top a foot hill of the Brokenback Mountain Ranges, with 360 degree views (below), just beautiful, even though the skies were cloudy (at 30 deg C). Wines there were great, too, main varieties in the region are Shiraz (red) and Semillon/Chardonnay (white), and, they are still affordable!

Below the gorgeous views from Audrey Wilkinson winery and a glimpse inside:

Problem with visits in wine regions always is that you can only drink a very limited amount of wine while driving, plus, it costs. By far not as much as in California (a tasting goes for about AUS 15/9 Euro per 4-6 little glasses), but, anyway,,, at least, we chose two good ones!

After a stop at a cheese maker called "Cheesy Cheese", where we bought a selection of cheeses for dinner, we drove into Cessnock and checked in our rather modest hotel - some mixture between historic, retro and Indian, fancy and vintage, shabby and chic. Very affordable and okay for one night, ,,, When we arrived at 5 pm, the reception was already closed, and, we had to call (but, later we noticed, that's common here). 

The town itself (below) looked rather run-down, a former coal-mining town with many properties for sale and not too much going on. Reminded us of western towns in Nebraska, Nevada or Idaho, in the middle of nowhere! Real "wine connaisseurs" apparently stay in the fancy hotels adjacent to the wineries or boutique hotels on the countryside.

We had cheeses and we had wine, but needed some more provisions. So, we walked over to "Cole's", a supermarket chain, and found "Granny Smith" apples, the green variety, we enjoyed as kids. Didn't know that they were bred in Australia in 1868! They were named after a lady who propageted the cultivar from a seedling. 

Another typical Australian product is "Vegemite" (below), a spread made from leftover brewers' yeast extract, brown, thick and salty. It was first produced in 1922 and is still a favorite here.

Got us fresh bread, too, and walked back to the hotel, tired at the end of a long, exhausting day.

North Sydney

Sunday morning - the sun is burning down. After breakfast with great goods from the bakery nearby, we took the train to The Rocks, a living history museum with historic pubs, hotels and galleries. It was the former harbour district with well preserved old buildings. On Sunday, a market took place under the  Sydney Harbour Bridge - vendors selling artwork, fashion, jewelry, and food.

Below, The Rocks Market, a Bavarian restaurant (!) and a Didgeridoo shop:

The Rocks - the former harbour district with many historic homes of seamen, captains and workers (above).

Since a new, even larger cruise ship (the Celebrity Edge) - see below, in the background behind the ferry - had arrived in the morning, the whole area was packed with tourists, mostly Americans.

Around noon we took the ferry to Taronga  Zoo (around 15 min) from Circular Quai - beautiful views already from the boat (below). We caught a bus from the boat landing to Balmoral, where we were meeting with friends who showed us around for the afternoon. Beautiful beach (where they go swimming every day - what a privilege!) and a historic boathouse (where Obama visited, too).

By car (a sporty Mercedes!) we got to see all the different „Heads“ - Middle Head, North Head (with the Sydney Harbour National Park), South Head and Manly (with another long popular beach) - and, enjoyed great views towards the Pacific Ocean and the skyline of Sydney. We walked different short trails in the National Park, passing  former military installation (now transformed into business space) and admired huge Eucalyptus trees.

Sydney downtown in the background (above)

Eucalyptus forrest

The bays and heads,,,and beaches,,,

Balmoral Beach from the old Boathouse (above)

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More beaches above ,,,

,,, and a view from Taragon Zoo Ferry Landing

It became cloudy in the afternoon and views became a little blurred. Nevertheless, we had a wonderful tour with our friends and got to know a completely different part of Sydney. The day ended with a casual dinner and great conversation (at the same time, a lesson in „Australian English“) in Glebe. 

I'll try to catch up with my report tonight, we had internet problems in the first hotel outside Sydney. In the meantime, I am trying to get used to a car and traffic where everything is the other way around,,, screwed up,,,