scenery along the way to our docking at White Bay Cruise Terminal. This new
terminal is not a favorite for tourists since it requires a cab or shuttle
ride to get into town. It is located in Balmain near the Anzac Bridge with
dazzling panoramic views of the scenic Sydney skyline.
We were going to be treated to a "private tour" with someone who resides on
the North shore of Sydney. While waiting for him to arrive I watched the
guests who were disembarking here and was amazed by how many I had never
seen before on the ship and how you can spend so much time on this
relatively small vessel and never come in contact with so many of the
guests.
Our gracious host, Con arrived to pick us up and the adventure began (he and
his wife are part of a group called "Black Tie" who perform on many ships).
Our first stop was to Featherdale Wildlife Park - I took so many photos that
they are all posted in part two of today's blog. Could not help myself, I
cannot seem to control the camera when it comes to animals or flowers!
The next stop was very important - a local bakery for an Aussie pie - so
good. During my first visit down under in 2001 I bought local cookbooks and
would bake and freeze all sorts of pies for my husband, who really got
hooked on them.
After the wonderful pie it was on the road to the Blue Mountains, said to
get their color from the vapors created by the eucalyptus trees. This
UNESCO World Heritage site covers more than 2.5 million acres with
tablelands, cliffs, waterfalls, deep and inaccessible valleys and
magnificent views.
The first stop here was at the Wentworth Falls area to do some hiking to the
lookouts. Many of the walking tracks in the Blue Mountains were constructed
over 100 years ago. Local communities were in competition to provide the
"most spectacular" round trip walking routes to attract tourists to their
town, and today we are still the beneficiaries of their efforts. One such
group, known locally as the "Irish Brigade", and supervised by Captain
Murray, took over two years to build the 2.5 km National Pass Track at
Wentworth Falls. Legend has it, that some portions were constructed by the
men as they hung from ropes on the hillsides.
Next stop was Katoomba to see the famous rock formation called the Three
Sisters and a visit to Scenic World where one can take cable cars across the
valley or head down the mountain on the world's steepest incline railway.
Stopped for a cool drink at the Carrington Hotel, established in 1880. There
was to be a big event here that evening - a graduation party for the high
school seniors - it was fun to see the girls all dressed up in their formals
and the young men looking uncomfortable in their suits and ties.
There were bush fires in the area this day and we were told that many of the
roads were closed and the detours would double our time to get back to the
city. Since we thought we would be looking at a three hour journey we
decided to stop for dinner at a takeaway place called Turkish 2go, when the
food arrived it was easy to see why the place was so crowded. The stop ended
up being a blessing - by the time we finished dinner, the road was re-opened
and it only took us 1 1/2 hours to get back to the city!
We wanted to get some night photos of the city and opera house with its
sail-like roof line, and what better way than walking across the harbor
bridge. Before starting across the bridge we were treated with a fireworks
display across the bay. Made the very windy walk across the bridge and took
in some of the night life going on - so glad I do not have kids this age
anymore - it was quite the party scene.
Long day, finally got back to the ship a little after midnight.
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