Arrived at the hotel in Sydney and was “slightly” disappointed! The hotel costs over the NY were eye watering, it was a little tired and jaded. Location was great, just opposite Central Station. First full day there, G had booked the Harbour Bridge climb. In the morning we walked down to the harbour from the hotel. Went to the Opera `House and around Circle Quay. G then went and did the climb and M walked over the Harbour Bridge to North Sydney. A great experience for G and has the hat and photo gallery to prove he did it. Headed back to the hotel and clocked up just under twenty seven thousand steps. Next day we had planned to visit Bondi Beach and visit the Icebergs Pool. Navigated our way on the train and bus to Bondi, it was absolutely manic busy. In Australia the kids summer holiday is late December until early February. Stopped for a spot of lunch then spent a couple of hours on the beach. Still unsure if we were going to visit the pool, we wandered up there and as expected it was hectic, so we passed on a swim there. We were however able to take photo’s from the coast path.
New Years eve arrived in a flash, G had booked a haircut and M had a pedicure, a spot of lunch then time to get ready for the “Main Event”. We left the hotel in plenty of time as we had to walk down to The Rocks to board the boat. When booking Sydney earlier in the year, we both agreed that we weren’t keen on spending twelve hours sitting in the blazing sun to bag a spot to watch the fireworks. A friend had recommended a harbour cruise on a sailing ship, so we booked it. On board at 7.30pm, we set sail. Open bar for the evening and canapés, with live music it set the scene for a pleasant evening. Due to regulations, the tourist boats are unable to anchor, so we sailed around, what was amusing that the captain was steering the boat with his feet! We watched the 9.00pm fireworks then cruised out of the harbour for a while, before heading back for the midnight fireworks. All too soon it was 2026, we arrived back at the harbour just after 1.30am, we were then faced with a forty minute walk back to the hotel.
New Years day passed in a blur of tiredness and “feeling jaded” We had hoped to go over the bridge to North Sydney but it never happened. Popped out in the evening for an Indian meal to fuel up ready for the off the next morning. We escaped from the hotel of doom!
Picked up a hire car (Gavin Still – a white Mitsubishi Outlander) and headed off to the Blue Mountains for four nights, based in Leura. Beautiful area and enjoyed the many viewpoints and drove up to Oberon. We spotted our first wallaby, we pulled over to take a photo. He/She clocked us, didn’t like the look of us and hopped off back up the driveway. We went back to one of the best viewpoints in the evening after the crowds had left and as the sun was setting. It was beautiful. We’d wanted to take the Scenic Skyway across the valley, so had to purchase tickets to Scenic World to do it. Included in the ticket was Scenic Railway – the steepest passenger railway in the world and Scenic Cableway, which dropped us to the rainforest in the Jamison Valley. A great morning out, however from nowhere a thunderstorm rolled in, so we headed back and managed to get the Thailand portion of the trip sorted. In the evening the storm was still rumbling on, so we quickly popped out for dinner. The next morning, with clear blue skies and bright sunshine, we walked to a local viewpoint direct from the hotel. We had checked the forecast and it showed another thunderstorm due in the afternoon, so we took the opportunity to spend a couple of hours by the pool before the storm arrived. On cue, the same time as the previous day, it started to rain. We decamped to the room and started planing the Vietnam trip. At this point, we decided to skip Cambodia. The complexities of three flights for a four night stay, provided to much to contemplate, especially as we are likely to need two or three flights in Vietnam. Twenty one nights in Vietnam will give us a good opportunity to explore more. At some point in the future we hope to travel to Northern Thailand and will tag on Cambodia.
Blue Mountains well and truly done, we headed back towards the airport for a night before handing back “Gavin Still” and heading to the airport for our next flight – Uluru (formerly known as Ayres Rock)