Blue Mountains & Sydney.
We approach the east coast and arrive at the Blue Mountains National Park. That Australia is so hilly and mountainous surprises us. We hadn't really thought much about it before we came down here - on television you always see large flat areas. Some of the roads we drive on are as steep as ever. Maybe a little San Fransico-esque?
The Blue Mountains have been seriously affected by floods about 2 months ago, so many dirt roads have been washed away and closed to access. Both due to rockslides, but also mudslides and washed away roads.
However, there are still good opportunities for great, beautiful and spectacular experiences.
We find an open route and hike out to some waterfalls. There are no other people, so we have it all to ourselves. The birds chirp merrily, in their own completely exotic way.
On the way from there, we randomly enter a rest area. There is an elderly gentleman feeding cockatoos. We stay in the car so we don't disturb. We don't want to be the cause of them flying and his quiet time being spoiled.
Sus sneaks in to take a picture out of the windscreen and after a while Johnny carefully opens the door and gets out with the camera right. He slowly walks over to the man and asks if it is ok to take some pictures. He agrees to that.
It turns out that he himself is a big photo enthusiast, and then the conversation goes on... Equipment is shown from the best models that Nikon can perform - where an 800mm lens costs NOK 140,000 and a Z9 camera body is about NOK 47,000.
As he said, now I'm old and wealthy - if I don't try now, when??
Among many things, he says that he is in the volunteer fire brigade and has helped put out the big bushfire in 2020. It is really exciting to hear about and it will be a while - before we move on.
The Blue Mountains are over twice the size of the Grand Canyon – it's a gigantic area with so many trees that we've never experienced anything like it before. The mist from the last downpour hangs over the treetops and gives a fantastic rainforest-like atmosphere.
We will hang around in the area for a few days and then slip north of Sydney.
Sus' former colleague's daughter lives here with her husband and children, and we are so hospitable that we invite ourselves to visit. Fortunately, Tanja is happy to have a visit from Denmark, so the conversation goes happily.
She previously worked at the local holiday center for 18 years, so she makes sure to book us into a campsite.
All in all, we encounter incredible hospitality and open people who are easy to talk to.
Even the animals seemed to receive us in a way that made us feel welcome.
We have taken the chairs out and are sitting and eating breakfast. However, the parrots thought that we can share out the goodies, so they flap around Johnny's yogurt and land on Sus's head.
It's quite fun and very unexpected.
All in all, there is really a lot of bird life.
We don't really want to take the car into Sydney. Partly because of the traffic and partly because of the problem of finding a parking space. Our car is too tall to fit in the parking garages, so we choose to take the train. From their main railway station down to the opera house, it's about a 35-minute walk, so we grab that trip so we can also see a bit of the city.
It's almost lunchtime and stomachs are grumbling loudly. There's only MacD's and 7-Eleven nearby, so we have to continue a little longer. Suddenly we spot a sidewalk cafe with small tables with white tablecloths. They must then serve something other than snacks. So we go inside. It turns out to be a fine place with waiters in uniform and guests in clothes, from a completely different league than ours.
The waiter just smiles, makes a quick assessment and shows us to the table. He discreetly says that we can just put the rucksack on the other side of the table. We try a little desperately to hide our dirty rubber shoes under the table, while we get both water and menus. Well... it must be good food, with the prices on the menu.
We politely decline thanks to the champagne and order our lunch.
The food was certainly good and DKK 1000 poorer, we go down to the opera house and the Harbor Bridge...
The weather is super good and the sun is shining from a cloudless sky. If we're not going to end up with crispy skin, we'd better get some sunscreen on. A small kiosk sells a travel tube size for DKK 50, but then we could have just remembered to bring our own.
It's a bit crazy to stand by such an iconic building, and we soak up the impressions. There are plenty of cafes and places where you can just sit and enjoy the view. Here at the harbor front, there is a view of the opera house, the Harbor Bridge, skyscrapers and scheduled ferries.
We see a trash can that is standing and moving. It jumps a little and shakes?? Who dares look down into it and see why?
Johnny SkraldSpandWhisper lifts the lid and sees a cute possum camped close to the food. The little guy is one of many animals that have learned to live with humans.
