Another great night and woke up with a bit of a grin on. Seems mother nature was going to match my mood as when I looked out the window, I saw blue sky. Perhaps today I can see the wonders of the blue mountains after all. I had a great breakfast...and chatted with the owners of the B&B. Great couple they bent my ear for a while and wanted to make sure I saw as much as possible. Today is my last day of riding....destination Sydney...but I am going to see all the points of interest on the list. So I needed to get a start. I am getting great at the packing up thing and I was loaded up in about 15 minutes. Only thing I needed to do was find a hotel in Sydney. Booking.com to the rescue. In about 5 minutes I had found a room and booked it sort of near the interesting parts of town. The tour was almost over and they don't book the rooms after the ride days. 
  
As I walked out my Cockatoo friends were there to greet me. So cool....they are big too and when they fly about a few inches from your head its pretty neat. I am amazed how things can be so different from back home. Cockatoos are a pretty cool example, an exotic pet back home costing a few thousand dollars at least. Here they are like magpies....and a great source of amusement. They are soooo noisy and they seem to be all about having a good time....to watch them in their natural environment they are inquisitive, seem to want to have fun...ie if you put your clothes out to dry...they will unclip the cloths from the line and let them drop just for fun. To see one in a cage now is so not going to sit well with me. The same with the other exotic parrots I saw just flying around...every color of the rainbow.  
 
Seems my friends wanted to leave me a present...I came out to the bike which I parked under a tree...to find the seats all covered in big poo droppings.....nice. As I looked at the bike I looked back and my friend was sitting on a branch looking at me....seems he wanted to see my response. I chuckled and gave him the pffffft look. After getting some wipe down rags and giving the wheels a rub down and looking at the back tire....ick it was not looking good....just need another 300 km out of it. With that said g'bye to me hosts and hit the road...the gps rout had all the cool places to see in it. First stop was the view point for the three sisters. There is a story to the naming of the rocks....I never can understand the naming of rocks....but seems there is a story to it.   
   
I parked (rock star parking bikes rule in this department)...walked to the edge and holy crap! What a view...yesterday's whiteness was erased to show an amazing canvas of grandeur. Sort of like the grand canyon....aussie style. It was a huge valley below...carpeted with trees and in the distance mountainous features. Quite amazing....perhaps there was a blue tinge in the air also.....standing there looking you can't help but feel pretty small in the world when surrounded by such immenseness. Unfortunately I also was surrounded by Japanese tourists....they do have a way of just standing in front of you to take their selfies...like you're not there. I must look gruff cuz all i had to do was look at an offender of my view and they would stop what they were doing and go some where else. Personal space.....one thing that we take for granted in north america.  
 
I took in the view for a while as it was a perfect morning so different than yesterday and it was getting pretty warm out also. Lot more to see though so hopped on me steed and off I went. One view point after another as the road followed the cliffs edge.....stopped several times to take pics and just stand there looking....not many people were at these lesser places. But they were still stunning and all the better when admired in solitude. Also the road was a nice windy narrow one. Eventually I ended up at Luera Cascades. A series of waterfalls that went through the jungle....great place to breath in some fresh air. I just kept going and ended up looking at another vantage point this time above a waterfall.....then another....with even a more spectacular water fall....crap...I might not make it to Sydney at this rate. Have to say...the blue mountains are living up to the brochures....and I can understand why Katoomba is such a tourist hot spot. Its only about an hour and a bit from Sydney if you take the motorway. My route is a more indirect route that takes me into the apple orchards on the mountain top via what looks to be a pretty windy road. Also it is off the beaten path so it should have a lot less traffic. I am definitely not liking the traffic on the main road. Lots of semis that slow thing up quite a bit. As I motored on I finally made a right turn .....and no one was on the same road.....and off I went.  
 
This road was great..it wound through the top of a ridge and eventually I found myself in the apple orchards...there were cafes every kilometer selling fresh apple pies. I knew I would have to cave and stop at one eventually. I was having fun on the twisties but had to constantly remember me tire situation....last thing I needed was a blowout on a hairpin. So I still had fun.....and after a while a cafe popped up that had me name on it. I whipped in and in no time was sipping a latte and eating an apple pie to die for.....in an apple orchard. Was awesome....also it was getting hot out...had to start stripping gear. I was about at the end of the fun roads and would end up on a motorway for the rest of the ride. I did want to check out Bondi Beach however and not take a bus to do it...so I added a waypoint for it and off I went. traffic just got worse....and worse.....and eventually stopped....so time to lane split...and off I went. Seems there was an accident on the motorway...I zipped around 5 kilometers of road jam and had a big ass grin on when it was done. I didn't bother to really look at the route the GPS picked out but I ended up going over the Anzac bridge and right through the downtown area.
 
Somewhere along the way it became evident something was not right with the bike. I stalled at a couple of intersections and when I was trying to pull away...the motor would just sputter and lug....was weird....but it was still running...I just needed a couple more hours out of her....I gave the cylinder head a pat to coax her on. The run to Bondi was through some cool parts of town...and in no time poof...I popped out at the beach behind a lamborghini.....that was revving his engine. Apparently that is what the drug dealers drive around here I was told. I found a spot to a park and watched the surf for a while. Was about 36 out so was sweating a bit and feeling overdressed. The good looking folks hang out here to be seen that is for sure....was pretty impressive surf too. I also got to see the lifeguards dragging someone from the water. Kinda cool...there is a reality show about the lifeguards here that I caught on tv a couple of nights. It was an interesting watch as it seems there is some serious rip tides here etc etc....enough was enough was time to get the bike back. As I rode away...I rode through a bunch of cameras filming the show.....I think I am going to be on tv LOL.  
 
The ride to the shop was pretty uneventful just a lot of traffic to deal with. The roads here are pretty interesting...nothing is in a grid pattern. All sorts of angles and multilane turns. Gps gal saved the day that is for sure. the engine just seemed to be getting rougher and rougher....and what may have been the nick of time...the rental shop popped into view. Phewww made it! I was greeted by the crew...and they did a walk around of the bike...got to the back tire and all determined it was f'ckd. Seems they just went to this style of tire and are now going to rethink it.  
I had to unload on the street as it seem the sewer lines ruptured and there was a pretty pungent odor coming from within. I didn't mind and in in no time I had everything packed into my luggage, they hailed a taxi and with a few handshakes I was off to me hotel. All very painless. My taxi driver was from Malaysia...seem all taxi drivers are not from Australia...he informed me of that lil factoid. Either way had a cool convo and he found the hotel pretty quick. I unloaded and got to me room pretty quick and desperately needed a shower as I was sweating...36 and riding through downtown was a cooker. Felt great after and it was time to go wandering again. this time in shorts.  
 
I walked for a few hours and ended up stopping at several pubs....and I was sipping cider the whole way. Was wobbling a bit by the time I ended up at the harbour. I can not believe how vibrant this city is.....stuff going on everywhere every corner has a pub....or cafe and people.....milling about. Sooooooo not like home. I do dig the vibe. Found a cool restaurant on the water for yet another steak.....they do like the steaks here I did discover. Chatted with some folks....and decided it was time to pack err in. There was no way I was walking back so I hailed taxi and was shocked how far I walked. The hotel was good to see....as I was very knacked and very tanked. Wobbled to me room.....and did a face plant on the bed. It was my last day in aussie land...and it was a good one to end a pretty dang cool adventure on. Tomorrow....the big flight home....