It's Friday, but I"m updating you on Thursday, which was really nice.
Woke up early and boarded a little tour bus for a day trip to the Blue Mountains. First stop was on the outskirts of Sydney at the Sydney Olympic Park (2000). It was pretty cool. The stadium is now used for major sporting and music events, along with convention activities. They have pylons with the names of all 75,000 volunteers from that years games, plus, 2000 was considered the "Green Games" because solar panels along pillars provided much of the power for the stadium and rain water is collected and stored in an underwater reservoir and used throughout the stadium. Hooray Australia!
Second stop was for morning tea (i love tea) along the Nepean River. Pretty chill. There were biscuits (yum). I sat next to this lovely woman from England who was in OZ for her nephew's wedding. Her husband and her sister were also on the tour. She was asking me lots of questions and remarked on how brave I am to be traveling alone and stuff. She kept telling people that I'm from Chicago. I just loved her husband! He was so cute and was my official photographer for the day. He asked me all kinds of questions and wore the cutest hat. I just love little old men in their hats! ha ha!
Stop three - KANGAROOS! We saw four. They were napping or getting ready to...just kind of chilling in the grass. They are nocturnal animals, so really, it was bedtime for them anyways. I'm glad they stayed awake so I could get their picture. I know some 4th graders and some nieces who LOVE kangaroos... Their faces resemble deer. They weren't very big and sadly did not feel like hopping. If they had, I would have hopped right after them because I'm silly like that. One was carrying a joey. The amazing thing about kangaroos, they can have 3 joeys at one time, all at different stage. One can be hopping outside the pouch, but still go back in on occasion for milk. At the same time, one can be in the pouch, not quite ready for the real world. Meanwhile, one can be developing in the womb. What's REALLY amazing -- let's say there's a drought, a bush fire, or a 16 year old kangaroo who finds herself pregnant (ok, not really the last one...too bad this didn't work for humans!), the kangaroo or Mother Nature, I guess, can suspend the growth of the embryo until it's a better time. Serioulsy, too bad this didn't work for humans. It would solve so many problems --teen pregnancy, abortion, invitro...
Wentworth Falls was the fourth stop, which was lovely. We walked down for a glimpse and could see the falls and then into the Jamison Valley and the Blue Mountains,which aren't really blue and aren't really mountains. I'm probably going to get some of the details wrong here, so bear with me. The area is about the size of IRELAND, yes, the whole country of Ireland...The blue comes from the eucalyptus trees emitting oil into the air throughout the day. The light refracts off the lingering oil in the air and the haze looks blue. Just like sunlight refracting off the atmosphere making the sky blue..
As for the area not being mountains...limestone. 160 million years ago the Blue Mountains used to be the bottom of the ocean. A lot's changed since then. I should have taken notes. I don't remember the details. One thing that did stick out -- the Blue Mountains are equivelent to Arizona's beloved Grand Canyon, baby. Except the age difference. The North and South Rim and inbetween AZ's Grand Canyon is around 9 million years old. The mighty Colorado still runs through it and not tons of vegatation on the bottom,whereas, the Blue Mountains are chock full of eucalyptus trees. That's what shows it's age. LIke I mentioned, I didn't take notes, so a few of the facts, dates,etc might be a little off...but still beautiful and pretty darn cool, if you ask me.
Fifth stop - there were many stops. I listened to my IPod (thank you thank you chreeta b!) in between and peered out the window. I was the only one in the group by myself, so I kept to myself some, besides the occasional chats with the tour guide who reminded me of my Aussie boss in London, and of course,the cute old man in the group. So, fourth stop -Scenic World. Yes, that's the name...great views of the mountains and the "Three Sisters" rock formation. There is a wonderful aboriginal legand explaining the 3 sisters - basically their shamen father turns them to stone so they aren't kidnapped by the cute guys from the other tribe. In a battle, the shamen dies, which is why the 3 sisters are still stone. The cool thing about Scenic World is that is been converted into a tourist trap from and old coal mining locale. We got to take this cool cable car almost straight down the mountain -- kind of like a roller coaster -- your stomach drops a little. You walk around,see the amazing trees, and then take another cable car up the mountain. Along the way you get to see some pretty funky looking trees and read about coal mining.
Lunch in Leura -quaint little town. I loved all the little shops!
Next, more views of the Blue Mountains from Kingsland Table - a flat limestone spot. People carved their names into the limestone. I couldn't find mine, but I found yours. ;)
Lastly, we saw a 300 year old aboriginal carving of a kangaroo, just down this little residential street called Kangaroo Street.
We headed back to Circular Quay via Ferry. I love transportation by ferry!
I walked back to the hostel and decided I wanted to put on a dress and grab a glass of wine. I made another friend -- Stephanie from Indiana. She is here on study abroad from Purdue and a really bright, neat woman. She was also staying in my room, and I invited her out. We had a very nice chat -- talked about travel, school, boys, life, boys, etc.
Today, Friday, I went for another run, updated the blog, as you can read, and planning the next couple of weeks. I'll take off on Sunday for Melbourne, Tasmania, returning to Sydney to do the bridge climb, and then off to a 4 day surf trip up to Byron Bay for which I am SO EXCITED!
Need to get back now... thanks for reading. I'll upload photos soon!
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