More of Sydney

5th - 8th Jan 2013

Back in the city it was a busy few days trying to squeeze things in before we moved on again. Me, Mel, Charlie, Hollie and Ben were to go to Adelaide in a few days. I wasn't even planning to go to Adelaide while in Australia but Hollie and Mel have family there so rather than go off on my own again I decided to stick with people I know. We all booked flights for the Tuesday which would give us a few days to sort stuff out and do stuff. Well, all of us apart from Charlie who accidentally booked a flight on Monday!

Money was a bit tight with most people didn't want to spend too much on tours but I managed to persuade Charlie to go up the Sky Tower in the middle of Sydney. Its the tallest building in Sydney at 309m and has a revolving restaurant but we went to the observation deck.

Sydney Tower

The view from the top

Before you go up the tower you go through a 4D cinema where they show you a 5 minute video of places around Sydney. Its in 3D and they have things like bubbles when you go under water and there was a bit on the video where a guy blew fire at you and the whole room flashed orange. That bit actually made me jump so it wasn't completely naff but I just wanted to go up the tower.

Sydney Cricket Ground

A concert in the park

You could see for miles around with these binocular things that were free. I mangaged to find the window of our hostel and I phoned Ben and told him to wave. I couldn't really see into the room but I could see the curtains moving.

Charlie looking peoples windows

Our hostel was the orange building

Chillin on top of the world

The Sydney festival had begun with a giant runner duck in Darling Harbour. And i mean giant, its the size of a house! There was also a fire works show at 9pm so we hung around to watch it from the tower. It had nothing on New Year but it was odd seeing fireworks from above.

Massive duck

Sunset

Sydney at night

On another day Angela and I went to see the Blue Mountains, something I'd been planning to do since I came to Sydney the first time around. The first stop was Flat Rock where you see for miles and miles. Its a fantastic view. The blueness of the Blue Mountains doesn't come from reflection from the sky which many people think, including me. It comes from a natural occurring oil on the Eucalyptus leaves which when viewed under a microscope is blue. There was no fence or anything there but I was still surprised to see two cars at the bottom of the cliff!

Blue Mountains

Driving fail

Rebel

We carried on down road to Wentworth falls where we had a bit of a trek all the way down to the bottom of the falls. On the way our guide told us a bit about the Aboriginals who used the coloured rock in the area for drawings and stuff. There was a place called Fletchers Lookout but unfortunately i didn't get to look out of that Lookout.

Wentworth falls

Our guide telling us about the colours and stuff

Im famous!

walking down to the falls

The bottom of the falls was awesome. It had a spectacular view of the valley and after the walk it was nice to cool your feet in the cold water ready for the hike back up. THERE WERE SO MANY STAIRS! It was a proper effort getting back to the top and Angela decided she couldn't carry her bag anymore and gave it to the guide to carry. He did not look impressed at all!

Bottom of the falls

After lunch we went to the main touristy bit in the Blue Mountains where the three sisters are. Its the most visited attraction in all of Australia which is surprising because they are a bit naff. I thought they'd be bigger. We got the chance to go down into the valley to explore the forest below for an extra cost. One of our group was really annoyed by this as it was an optional extra but the only other option would be to sit in the van and wait for the others.

Weird statues

Away man! I'm naked

Three Sisters

We got the skyrail down to the bottom where there was forest but not just any forest...oh wait, it could be any forest. There was nowt special down there apart from an old coal mine. The best part of the trip was the train back up to the top. Its the steepest railway in the world. It was used to carry the coal up to the top and people used to request a ride back up rather than walk and a tourist attraction was born. The train was pretty cool. The seats are at 45 degrees and the roof is really low so its a bit of an effort getting in and out

Coal

Our group

Train

On the way back into the city we got the chance to stop off at the Olympic Park from the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games. We only had 10 minutes so we didn't get to see a right lot. Our driver was in a right huff because the girl from earlier said she was going to complain.

Olympic Stadium

On the whole it was a really nice day out and well worth doing. With that over, Sydney was done. I'd seen and done everything in Sydney that I had been planning to do. Charlie managed to get his flight changed and we all flew out on the Tuesday to Adelaide. I don't have plans to go back to Sydney but I'm sure I will at some point.

Massive Coca Cola sign in Kings Cross - famous apparently

Time for a sad story now.

Once we had finished at the Blue Mountains and were on our way back to Sydney our guide got a call from his boss. There had been a death at the very spot we had been just a few hours earlier at the top of Wentworth falls. A man, aged 20 was travelling with 8 friends at the time. He climbed over the safety barrier and slipped on the wet rock and went over the falls. I cannot begin to imagine the grief of his friends and family and I'd be lying if this hadn't made a lasting impression on me. It could so easily have been me. It sounds like the kind of thing I would do. Its such a shame for a life to be wasted in this way and my heart goes out to his friends and family. Especially those who were there to witness it. It must have been horrible.