We arrived in Sydney several days ago
and have now re-oriented ourselves into our new home for the next
3 months. “Otis”.....apparently all the camper van spaceships
here have names....is not as big as our Starship back home, but we
are becoming accustomed to one another (easy to spot in a parking
lot, sure glad I'm on the inside looking out most of the time). Our first full
day was spent shopping, picking up groceries and minor accessories
for the van that were not provided. With the weather forecast calling
for several days of intermittent rain, we decided to postpone our
downtown walkabouts until our return visit in May, and head out
instead to the Blue Mountains (120 kms west of Sydney). The World
Heritage region seemed unremarkable to us, other than around Katoomba
where Echo Point provided wonderful canyon views, the Three Sisters
rock formation and the Giant Staircase (900 steps carved into the
mountain). Perhaps our expectations have been elevated following our
tour around the majestic South Island of NZ. If the threatening rain, which
never materialized until overnight, had not been a concern then we
would have experienced several longer hikes which might have changed
our opinion. Beyond Katoomba we encountered several large coal mining
operations outside the National Park (and some local concerns about
further expansion).
Today we are heading to the Hunter
Valley wine region to taste some of their products since one more day
of inclement weather is forecast (but at 20-25C it is certainly not
snowing). After that we will head back towards Sydney where we are
hooking up with some Aussie friends (Bill & Bobbie, formerly
Toronto), who now live on the east coast between Brisbane and Sydney.
They are coming in their camper to act as tour guides on our way to
Melbourne together.
Now that we are staying in campgrounds
(with the kangaroos), many of which do not have internet access, our
updates will likely happen a little less frequently so don't be
concerned if you are not receiving your daily updates!
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| Otis - bed, fridge, campstove, water pump & more, all under one roof |
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| Olympic Park Boulevard |
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| Echo Point - The Three Sisters |
.JPG) |
| The Giant Staircase - 900 steps carved into the mountain |
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