Katoomba Town Centre Motel

... ibis were trying to eat. The flame cauldron has been placed on a slab that has the names of the winners of both the Olympics and Paralympics set in the ground around it. Quite a nice setting for the cauldron but it really looks a bit like an extra spaceship from Men in Black.

Our next stop was Featherdale Wildlife Park. This was started by a private individual who just loved birds ...

... that it's always good to listen to your body and experiment with your diet (and other things). So, basically what I'm getting at is: Vegetarianism works for me, and why mess with what works?

Alright, on to the more basic stuff.

The past couple of days have been totally awesome. I went up to the Blue Mountains, which are totally beautiful. I did manage to take some pictures before the yellow sensor in my camera went AWOL on me, so I'll ...

... down steps to a viewpoint. Going down was OK, but coming back up made my heart thump.

After that we came back to the digs, before going to the RSL again for another Chinese meal. This time though we took one meal to share, which is quite acceptable here. It was more than plenty, and it’s not that we have small appetites!

Tomorrow we start our journey down the coast towards Melbourne.

... son corps et les sensations qui y résident en apprenant a les observer avec compassion et a ne pas y réagir – je me rends compte qu’il y a beaucoup plus de « trucs » a l’intérieur auxquels je ne m’attendais pas… ma première réaction, qui a duré tout l’heure de méditation (car contrairement a ce que j’étais supposée faire j’ai réagi a ces sensations) était de me dire " ben m*rde alors" – je dois vous demander de ...

... are the best camp sites. He also explained us on the map that I had bought where there are walking tracks to go on to Wenthworth falls (which was initially our intention). But he also sayd that it might be hard to get back before sunset if we did the walk all around.

Finally we just strolled around on the closest bit of Mt Solitary enjoying the terrific view over Jamison Valley and Sydney`s watersupply, while chatting with ...

... my mind though. I would say he was a cross between Crocadile Hunter and Ace Ventura, as so much of the time he just seemed to be off in his own little world studying every little thing around him almost like a detective. He would also tell us things that only the people at the front of the pack of 18 could possibly hear. Then he pulled out the funniest hat in the world, some sort of blue get up with two horns, don't worry ...

... to the vernicular railway. This railway is the steepest in the world clocking in at 52 degress with a vertical drop of 206 meters, it was once used to transport coal up to the top but for many many years has been used as a tourist attraction. I hopped in the front seat with another couple, we were heading down so the woman next to me was cacking herself with fear - the front seat is the prime spot!! The journey itself was harmless and slow and we were all quickly at ease and the ...

... further over toward Darling Harbour. Again, they were pretty amazing.  The Harbour was lit up like day time, the bridge continually appeared to be on fire, and the (high quality) fireworks were well timed with each other.  There were so many that the ashes were falling on our heads, a small price to pay for such a glorious display. Check out the video to see some of what we saw.  We are right under the bridge looking up at it so what you're seeing at first is stuff coming right over the side of the bridge.

... pass that includes transportation. It was $299pp. We're figuring on saving that much in the first 4 days, not including being able to ride all the trains, buses and ferries in Sydney. The next week of posts will detail a majority of the things you can do with the pass, since we're only doing things that give us discounts with the pass. So after picking up the tickets, we headed out into the Blue Mountains. We wanted to come ...