Everybody reckons the approach into Sydney Harbour is amongst the most spectacular you can experience, and to give us as much time as possible in the city Cap'n Bob was rolling in to the outer bay at 5.30, that's am for Lord's sake! So along with a few hundred other souls we were there, up on Deck 13, with the old Kodak Box Brownie, oohing and aahing in wonder. Seagulls asked us to quieten it down a bit as they were still trying to lay in the zzzzzz's before another busy day screaming "mine, mine, mine" every time they see a scrap of litter.
It was pretty impressive though, with the sun coming up over the Opera House
( P&O have managed to get hold of some tickets for Rigoletto tonight, how good is that?), with the big old bridge in the background. We are alongside Circular Quay right in the centre of the city across from the Opera House well before 8am; good job we're morning people!
Hope you are sitting comfortably with a bit of spare time by the way; we haven't had breakfast yet (and we've been up since 5.30), this could be a long old blog today. Anyway, for breakfast we had..... too much detail?
Off the ship just after 8am, bright eyed and bushy tailed, and off to find Mr Avis at the Marriott Hotel. We had pre-booked the smallest, cheapest car in the fleet. Marriott people don't use cars this small so we got an upgrade to a Toyota flash-mobile, set the GPS (nice touch the way it says " G'day sport where we goin' t'day" when it switches on) and off we set through rush hour Sydney for the Blue Mountains along the Great Western Highway. Now they are spectacular. Basically a range of mountains, about 60 miles from the coast, with heights around 1100 metres. They are more of a plateau really with deep gorges cut in to them by rivers, heavily forested with natural eucalyptus woodland (another scratch and sniff moment!) and dotted with high waterfalls, stunning overlooks and viewpoints.
We were very much reminded of parts of the Appalachians in New England and also, on a different scale, of the Grand Canyon and Bryce Canyon. First stop was Wentworth Falls, bit of a walk to some incredible views. Being mid week there were not many people around, the beauty and peacefulness was something else, running out of superlatives here, perhaps I ought to write a poem or something. It's not just the scenery that gets you. Some of the little towns of the area are equally stunning.
We called in to Leura in late morning, a township with really only two streets but the layout and buildings seem to be almost unchanged from when they were built with Victorian colonnades and the shops with original wooden floors. Many little craft shops, tea shops etc, the original Post Office. Oh, and tucked behind the main street, out of the way, Woolworths. We stopped here for lunch, and boy was it good, but I'm sure you don't want the full menu. We are, though, getting the very real sense that Australia is a pretty expensive place to live, prices are not cheap.
From Leura we toddle off to other recommended sights in the National Park, Mt Victoria, Govett's Leap, Mt. Piddington the highest point in the Range and the Blue Mountains Heritage Centre. All equally spectacular, not all equally accessible, but I'm sure Mr Avis doesn't mind his flash-mobile going down that track!
Mid afternoon and we are in Katoomba, (where do they get these names from?), another apparent relic of the 20s, only this time, instead of the very up market character of Leura, there is a distinct feel of Woodstock here with a lot of ageing hippies, and no that does not include your correspondents, (who had no truck with those libertine, self indulgent times), and dreadlocked youngsters in evidence. Despite the laid back atmosphere, the wi-fi in the coffee shop was well speedy and the scones and gluten free toast was pretty tasty too. Echo Falls next, to see Three Sisters, huge sandstone blocks, a bit more developed and commercialised than earlier stops with cable car and old industrial tramway linking to a now disused mine and larger car and, horror, coach parks. Still spectacular though. This is the final stop in the Blue Mts for us. We have really enjoyed the open air, scenery and slower pace up in the mountains('cos it's so hectic on the ship and we get so little fresh air!!!!) and it has been good to get away from the big city experience.
The weather has been excellent, temperatures in the high 20s, that's 80+ to us old folk, with much lower humidity than in our last few ports of call, altogether more manageable.
It is well past 5 o'clock when we leave Echo Falls to head back to Sydney, too late to get the car back to Avis who close at 6pm and don't have a drop off facility in the city centre, so we have to park it up over night and drop it off in the morning, bright and early!
Have you ever noticed how there are very few petrol stations towards the centre of big cities? You know how car rental companies always charge you an arm and a leg if they have to top up the tank? Lesson? Always top up the tank before you get right into the centre. Otherwise you have to go back a little way again, GPS lady goes ape s*** saying "recalculating route" in an increasingly exasperated Aussie twang, before finally giving up in a huff.
Anyway it was a nice drive over Sydney Harbour Bridge, and back again, saved walking it tomorrow. What's the problem? So, a little later than expected, we're parked up at 8pm, just as the cheap rate parking kicks in. See, love it when a plan comes together.
But what about Rigoletto, or perhaps it was The Magic Flute, (they all sound the same to a peasant like me) I hear you say. Sadly we had to pass on the culture, but never mind, there is always an up side to disappointment. We just happened to find this rather nice little place where you can choose a dirty great chunk of dead cow from the chill cabinet and then go over to this equally large barbie and cook your own steak. Lovely help yourself salads etc, small glass of grape. Oh yes! You all know that we are not all that in to grilling out (!!) but you have to experience the local culture and there comes a time when you just have to grin and bear it.
Oriana looked impressive in the small harbour decked with fairy lights the full length of the ship.
Before trundling back to the ship, we took a walk around the harbour area (known as The Rocks) which has a very vibrant atmosphere with bars, bistros, restaurants etc, with the green and orange Sydney ferries still busy at the piers next door to the Ocean Terminal. It reminded us very much of Baltimore and indeed Oslo. Crowds were leaving the Opera House, I'm told the Magic Flute was not a vintage performance of the Mozart masterpiece so that offset the disappointment a bit for us, but it was a hell of a steak. And so to bed, a long day, but a very good one.