We really do feel like we have been "off exploring the past couple of days. We started our day yesterday at the Jenolan caves. They are further into the Blue Mountains and were absolutely spectacular. Supposedly the largest caves in AU. We took the "temple of Baal" tour and the largest cave was 150 feet high.
Then we moved on further through the mountains. You can smell eucalyptus as you drive. Many varieties of eucalyptus trees hence the name of the mountains. Lots of kangaroo and koala signs on the road, seen one dead on the road which was hit by a car. We've been told the kangaroos are out more at sunrise and at dusk like deer in MN. We saw lots of logging in the mountains. We're so amazed by the different birds, flowers and trees. Different road signs and driving on the opposite side of the road. It does feel like a different country when you get out of the city!
We decided to head North on the New England hwy with advice from an Aussie camper. This highway is more inland and took us through some beautiful country before we cut over to the coast tomorrow. It was much different than we expected. We saw huge coal mines, fruit farms and a beautiful landscape.
We managed to see the fourth quarter of the SuperBowl at a pub in Armidale. The Aussies did't seem very interested but had no problem tuning it in for us. The final stretch before we ended our day was through the Nymboi-Bonderay National park. It was like driving through a mountainous rainforest. It was beautiful with lots of twists and turns. Palm trees and ferns, just gorgeous! However I think Randy is ready for some straight roads after two day of driving in the mountains.
The US dollar and the Au dollar are almost equal right now. Gasoline is $4.80 for reg and $5.00 for diesel. Sydney was quite expensive but have found some things quite reasonable. We bought a GPS when we left Sydney and very glad we did! Randy managed to find some SW Australian wine for $5.00 a bottle and it's not too bad. So our camper is stocked!
We're camping less than an hour away from the coast tonight so will be traveling up the coast tomorrow. When we checked into our campsite tonight there was a sign about poisonous snake identification and how to treat. We asked if we needed to be worried about snakes and his response was "haven't seen any in a couple of days". We watched our step! As the Aussies say "No worries!"