Sydney Itinerary: The Blue Mountains and the Three Sisters

Since the Blue Mountains are only about a two-hour train ride from Sydney, I think they are worth a visit if you enjoy nature and vast canyons. They are called the Blue Mountains because of the blue effect made from the eucalyptus oil particles in the air. The Three Sisters are always crowded during the day because they are the main sightseeing stop in Katoomba, but if you stay overnight, you can have the whole vista to yourself, and they are lit up at night for a different experience. This time, I just did a day trip, so it was a full day of getting there, doing the train and cable-car rides at the tourist place Scenic World, walking back to town, and then catching the train back.

The Three Sisters bathed in sunlight

Sydney Itinerary: Whale Watching

We really lucked out on the day we chose to go whale-watching in Sydney. The captain found a pair of humpback whales that were doing a phenomenal amount of splashing, tail- and fin-slapping, and breaching. He said it was the most activity he'd seen in almost ten years of doing the job. We followed them for over an hour, and they kept it up the whole time. They also started attracting other whales to the area. It was rocky out there, and even I started getting seasick by the end of the three-hour cruise, but I think it was worth it. And I managed to get some nice pictures of their activity!

 

Then we walked through the Botanic Gardens and got dinner in Darling Harbor in the evening. This is what a day outdoors in Sydney can be like...

Sydney Itinerary: Featherdale Wildlife Park

After an early-early-morning flight to Sydney, we did my traditional walk to the waterfront to check out the Opera House and Circular Quay, then took the train to Featherdale Wildlife Park, about 45 minutes west of the central city. It was a nice, sunny day, and most of the animals were out and about. I've gone to the Taronga Zoo twice and saw online that this one was more intimate with a focus on Australian animals, so I thought I'd switch things up. There were indeed lots of wombats, kangaroos, wallabies, koalas, penguins, and a few echidnas, birds, and dingoes. One koala was just the most precious thing, and it doesn't even seem real in the photo!

soo precious!!

You could feed them, and they enjoyed the ice cream cones more than the grass.

So tall - one of the weirdest birds I've ever seen.

Chinese New Year in Sydney

Another cool thing about our time in Sydney was that it was Chinese New Year, and it is supposed to be the second biggest celebration outside of China because there are so many Chinese residents. The parade was cancelled due to construction on George Street, but they had 12 blow-up lanterns around downtown representing the zodiac signs, so we were able to make it to all of those. The Mahjongg ox was so cool! And they lit up the Town Hall, Opera House, Harbor Bridge, and Circular Quay in red.

The University of Sydney had a big campus and several buildings with nice architecture. You have to wonder what people are going to think of all our 'modern' glass buildings that seem to look the same. The library staff were not very helpful, but I still managed to check out several science fiction magazines from the early days of the genre which was really exciting. Going back to the source is definitely worth the effort because you get to see what people were actually reading and holding. Digital just can't replicate that.