We really enjoyed our 3 days in the Blue Mountains. The first night we stayed in Katoomba, a very quaint town, in a quirky hotel which was straight out of the 1930s. We hiked along some pretty wet and muddy walking trails the next day, (quite a contrast to the Red Centre), which took us from cliff top level down hundreds of steps, past waterfalls and very thick foliage. We wouldn't have had time to climb back up via the steps before our car park ticket ran out, s...

Sydney - (day 3) didn't start off too well, as Tony's phone was ringing at 5.15 am (cold caller, who got a short sharp response). We ended up sleeping later than we meant to, and then didn't really feel like doing much. We walked to 'The Rocks' area, where some of the houses look like English back-to-back Victorian terraces, then went to have a look at where people go to start the Harbour Bridge climb. Some signed photos on display showed that, among others, Bruc...

Sydney (day 2) - started off with the 2nd of our 'Hop on hop off bus tours'. This 'Bondi beach' tour had simillar problems to the 'city tour' of the previous day, with overhanging foliage whipping us round the head as we whizzed along, and a commentary that was out of sync. with where we were at the time. It was very amusing watching the other passengers craning their necks to look for places of interest that either we had passed a couple of minutes earlier, or h...

Sydney (day 2) - started off with the 2nd of our 'Hop on hop off bus tours'. This 'Bondi beach' tour had simillar problems to the 'city tour' of the previous day, with overhanging foliage whipping us round the head as we whizzed along, and a commentary that was out of sync. with where we were at the time. It was very amusing watching the other passengers craning their necks to look for places of interest that either we had passed a couple of minutes earlier, or h...

G'day all, sorry it's been a while since the last update - no wi-fi since the airport at Christchurch, and I'm actually writing this in our motel in Alice Springs, so have to catch up on our time in Sydney! On Tuesday 20th March our alarm went off at 04.00, and by 04.45 we were at the airport (only about 3 minutes on the shuttle bus from our hotel)! We had a smooth flight and landed ahead of schedule, more confusing time travelling though, as we went forward i...