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A short but fine adventure by Billy Oaks Read more
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  • Billy OaksSydney & Blue Mountains
    Day 1

    Katoomba & the 3 Sisters

    November 20, 2013 in Australia ⋅ ☀️ 20 °C

    On holidays again, this time coming back to Sydney after nearly 10 years. As usual morning flight arriving in Sydney at 11am (due to the difference in time between NSW & QLD) and after grabbing a rental car from the airport we headed to Katoomba and the Blue Mountains. A quick detour took us to the big chook in Mount Vernon, I couldn't resist my passion for these big things.

    A nice drive from Sydney despite the road works and the reckless drivers, we arrive in Katoomba around 1PM on time for checking in. After some well deserved rest we decided to go to Scenic World and then come back to Echo Point.

    Lots of buses and a busy car park were signs that the place was crowded, we had learnt that most of buses leave around 3pm so we went for lunch and relax.

    As expected by 3:30 most of the buses left so we went to the first and most popular attraction, the steepest railway in the world, now this not a roller coaster but still it gets freaking steep!!! We then went for a walk in one of the tracks and came back to the top of the hill using the cableway. The last ride was the Skywalk, not as spectacular as shown on the website but still worth doing it. It was closed to 4:40pm by now and the place was about to close so we took the last ride on the scenic railway, pretty cool as we were the only ones in the train.

    Back a the motel, more time to rest before going to Echo Point and see the three sisters on sunset. Excellent choice, the 3 sisters turned a bit orange and the mountains looked amazingly blue. Not to mention that the place was nearly empty with most of the day trip tiurist back in Sydney.

    Time for dinner, tomorrow we are exploring Katoomba before drving back to Sydney....    Read more

  • Billy OaksSydney & Blue Mountains
    Day 2

    The harbour, the bridge & Opera House

    November 21, 2013 in Australia ⋅ ⛅ 25 °C

    Now today it was a really, really, really long day.

    We got up early had breakfast and after checking out we went to downtown Katoomba. In there we explored the newsagent to get some souvenirs and have a look around some chops. We landed at the Carrington hotel and then the cultural centre.

    After getting some snavks for the trip we left Katoomba behind and start our descend back to Sydney. We stopped for at Olympic Park and have some photos with some of yhe stadiums, which looked a bit modest compare to what we saw at Beijing last year.

    We hit Parramata road and the caothic traffic. Fortunately the GPS took us around so we made it quickly to Avis Sydney CBD (located at the Marriot hotel) our hotel was just around the corner.

    Weather forecast for the next few days is chance of rain so we decided not to postpone the perfect picture and under the blue sky we went to Circular Quay, Sydney Harbour Bridge and of course the Opera House.

    After a million photos and walking around the opera house (we didn't do the inside tour) we grabbed the ferry and headed to Darling Harbour. We spent some time in here but didn't visit thw Aquarium or Wildlife sanctuary, coming from Gold Coast these were nothing new to us anyhow. Other interesting places we came across were the Chinesse gardens and the Imax theatre.

    Time to go to the Sydney tower, we always love going to this obsetvation decks (Q1, Eureka tower, Rialto, SWFC, Skytower etc) so this wasn't the exception. The 3d video was really good but not so kuch the views, well they were ok but you hardly see the bridge or the Opera House!!!!

    Time for dinner, there was a really good set up of restaurants in the food court, option ranged from Thai, Japanese, Vietnamese, Chinese, Mexican, Middle East, Italian and many more.....

    Back to the hotel it was close to 9pm, time to have some rest.    Read more

  • Billy OaksSydney & Blue Mountains
    Day 3

    A trip to Manly

    November 22, 2013 in Australia ⋅ ⛅ 23 °C

    Today the weather forecast didn't promise much so we changed our plans and decided to go to Manly instead of Bondi beach and Luna Park.

    Without wasting time we headed to Circular Quay and jumped on the so called "famous" ferry to Manly. There was a strong wind sothe trip was a bit rough. Still really good views of the Harbour.

    Finally in Manly, the wind was now really strong that evev the seagulls were struggling to fly. Anyway, we took some photos at the beach and then strolled along the shops, got some souvenirs and then had lunch at a Japanesse restaurant along the esplanade.

    The weather was worsening so we decided to go back to Sydney. Another rough trip and the rain started as soon as we got back to the Circular Quay, we had to skip the foodie market at The Rocks and spent most of the afternoon at the hotel. Hopefully tomorrow the weather improves.    Read more

  • Billy OaksSydney & Blue Mountains
    Day 4

    The Rocks & Luna Park

    November 23, 2013 in Australia ⋅ ⛅ 21 °C

    Today the weather wasn't perfect so we postponed again Bondi beach (sunny day forecasted for tomorrow) so we took some time to explore The Rocks and Luna Park.

     Really good weather in the morning. There was a huge cruise ship at the International terminal and plenty of tourist filling quickly every corner of Circular Quay.

    We stroll along the water front all the way to Sydney Harbour Bridge where we captured great views of the Opera House. We then visited the weekend market, nothing especial and a bit touristy but enough to keep us busy.

    We spent some time walking around old buildings, including the oldest pub in OZ land. By now Ximena was really impatient so we grabbed the ferry for Luna Park.

    Similar to the one in St Kilda, I felt some especial charm in the place, like looking at something from the past. Definitely different to the theme parks in Gold Coast.

    Of course Ximena, a roller coaster maniac, couldn't resist getting 10 times on the Wild Mouse before a torrential rain started. Fortunately we found some shelter and had some lunch. It rained for about an hour and then clear sky again.

    After several rides, Ximena was getting tired and with some thunderstorm fast approaching we went back to the hotel to have a rest. The storm never reached Sydney so after having dinner we went to Circular Quay to have some photos of the Harbour at night and why not have a cup of coffee. Tomorrow is our last day and weather permitting, we will visit Bondi beach    Read more

  • Billy OaksSydney & Blue Mountains
    Day 5

    Bondi beach

    November 24, 2013 in Australia ⋅ ⛅ 23 °C

    Ok our last day in Sydney and luckily some beautiful weather. Busy morning packing up our bags, some breakky and then checking out (leaving the bags on custody at reception)

    As usual we went to Circular Quay but this time jumped on bus 333 for Bondi beach. The trip was about 40 minutes and the bus got jump pack full.

    At Bondi we didn't waste time and headed straight to the beach, it was around 10am an the crowds were starting to arrive. The water was a bit cold, in general there was cool breeze but overall ok. What else we could do other than relax and bake under the sun.

    In all honesty I expected more from Bondi beach, it is a small bay beach, big waves, maybe good for surfers. I learned there other beaches around less crowded, maybe next time.

    Sofia, a friend of my sister, met us at the beach and then we had some lunch in a quite expensive, nothing especial restaurant (ah right we are in Bondi Beach). Gently enough she took us back to the hotel to pick up our bags and then to the airport, although she dropped us at the wrong terminal it saved us plenty of time.

    On the plane we were just starting to plan our next trip to South East Asia, right after Christmas, until then.    Read more

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