Anniversary Blog 15 - Sydney, Australia Part 2
We woke up early and hopped on a train at Sydney Central Station to catch a ride to Katoomba Station and headed up the hill to Scenic World. This is a great destination to get an overview of Blue Mountain National Park, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. There are various ways to explore the forested and mountainous area from different altitudes. The destination includes hiking trails, waterfalls, a tram that takes you over Jamison Valley, a mine cart ride down to the valley, and more.
From Scenic World you can check out the Three Sisters, a unique rock formation that is said to be 3 tribal women turned into stone by an elder to avoid their marriage to men from a neighboring tribe.
The Blue Mountains area is really breathtaking. The forest is full of eucalyptus trees, and the oily mist from those trees gives the area its signature bluish hue. The mountains that surround the views you get from Scenic World make for a beautiful frame for the entire landscape that has to be seen in person to believe.
After lunch and a beer at Station Bar back in Katoomba, we headed back to Sydney. Later that night, we grabbed a meal at Harpoon Harry’s.
The next morning we headed to Tumbalong Bay to check out the SEA LIFE Sydney Aquarium. This was a great kid-friendly location and we were able to check out penguins, sea turtles, sharks and rays, along with a vast selection of colorful fish.
From there we jumped over to the Circle Quay area to get souvenirs and a couple of beers back in the Sydney Opera House area. We then went to check out the food court across from the train station. We went a little crazy and tried Bread & Fill, Gozleme Co, Roll’d Vietnamese, Hero Sushi, and Four Frogs Creperie. The food was really tasty, and it was almost impossible to choose, because that was just a drop in the bucket of food options at the court.
The next stop was the Australia Museum. We learned about the Aboriginal History of the country, and checked out fossils and dioramas related to this part of the world that we weren’t very used to. It was interesting to learn just how much of Australia’s history happened independent of the rest of the world and how many unique species and cultures came from that. They also had sections dedicated to colonization, and civil rights.
The next morning, we said goodbye to Sydney and headed south to Tasmania, and then the Great Barrier Reef! Stay tuned!
