Sydney, NSW
Today I've been researching New Zealand at our YHA hostel in Sydney, because we catch our plane to Auckland tomorrow. There's a great room in the hostel designed for people who've just arrived in Australia to plan out their trip. It's a nice, quiet environment with detailed maps of the five states and two territories, plus a wealth of other information to help the baffled backpacker to organise themselves. As a taster of what's on offer, they've put up some professional Australian landscape photography to whet the appetite - Uluru, the Great Barrier Reef, the Kimberley etc. What a big country...
The big decision James and I had to make when we were deciding on the itinerary for this trip was whether we'd travel extensively in Australia, or simply work to fund other parts of the trip. We opted for the latter and we've not really seen Australia as a result. I'm not too regretful. Looking at those photos it made me realise that we could only have seen a small chunk of Australia in three months, even if money had been no object. We did manage to set aside our last three weeks to see some Antipodean natural delights; the things which make you want to see this country in the first place. We began by hiring a car for a few days and visiting the Great Ocean Road in Victoria - just west of Melbourne - and briefly the Dandenong Ranges, which are foothills of the Great Dividing Range. After heading back to Sydney this week, we spent two days in the Blue Mountains (foothills by the middle of the Great Dividing Range), which were my favourite part of the Australia, in retrospect. I don't have much to say about the things we saw, it's better to represent our last few weeks through a few photographs.
So goodbye Australia. Only one thing annoys me. When I get home I won't be any better placed to reminisce with my Mum (who spent two years there during 1968-1970), because I saw nothing of Queensland, the Northern Territory or Western Australia. I need the chance to come back!
The Twelve Apostles (only eight apostles are left!), on the Great Ocean Road, VIC. These are limestone outcrops eroded by the crashing sea waves. In the bottem left of the picture you can see the crumbled remains of the 9th apostle which crumbled on July 3rd last year!
London Arch, Great Ocean Road, VIC. Another arch which connected this limestone arch to the mainland collapsed in 1990, prompting it's name change from London Bridge to London Arch.
Sandstone ridges, not limestone at the Blue Mountains, NSW.
Cascade over the Blue Mountains, NSW.
A lizard (I'll amend when I've found out which species), Blue Mountains, NSW.
Blue-tongue lizard, Blue Mountains, NSW.
A Tiger Snake we encountered, Blue Mountains, NSW.
Shingleback Lizard, Tower Hill Game Reserve, Great Ocean Road, VIC.Thanks to the random stranger for helping with lizard classification!
8 comments:
Rad. I'd really like to know the names of those lizards - some of them were closer to snakes than how you would expect lizards to look. Er, and less visible than you'd expect too - "Lizard 3" could also be described as "Pinecone on legs".
Luckily they've got the sense to get out of the way of myopic tourists !
Where did you stay in the Blue Mountains? Katoomba? When I find a way to move to Australia for good (keep dreaming, Thom...), Katoomba is gonna be my number one choice for retiring. Also, if I'd have known you were going, I could've sorted you out with some free accom with my crazy great aunt Jill. She's a 75 year old vegetarian buddhist, you know.
It's a shame you didn't get to see that much of Australia (especially the upper part of the east coast), but you've plenty of exciting bits left before you end up back in this horrendous part of the globe.
At least we will be able to reminisce about Sydney xxxx
Have been reading about Katoomba in the Oz Lonely Planet Guide. That and the Windsor and Richmond areas look fantastic. Enjoy New Zealand and the glaciers and beaches of the South.
Thom - yes, Katoomba (Blue Mountain YHA). We enjoyed a trip around that area and Blackheath we some school kids. I thought what a wonderful place to spend your childhood, but I also thought it was probably too sheltered. Off to Rotorua today (did you go to NZ?)
Mum - that's true.
Dad - never got to Windsor/Richmond sadly, but we did me a couple from Windsor. One was orginally from Gillingham and the other was orginally from Fife!
Those are pretty nifty lizards.
Lizard 2 is a "Blue Tongue" and Lizard 3 is a "Shingleback" I have no idea about the first one.
Love from a random stranger!
Thank you, random stranger!!
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