Sunday back in Sydney

On Sunday morning, we said goodbye to our cute little cottage and started the drive back to Sydney. However, about an hour in, we stopped in Glenbrook and met the lovely Rachel for brunch. She'd just returned the day before from a trip to the States, but she graciously came out and spent some time with us. I thought it was only fair that Mom & Dad should meet her since she taught us most of what we know about the Blue Mountains!

By the time we finished brunch, got back to the city, and returned the rental car, it was time for another activity! Mom and Dad chose going over to the Royal Botanic Gardens, so we hopped on everyone's favorite mode of transportation and headed across the harbour!

No napping on this ride!

We only made it about halfway through the gardens before the weekend's activities caught up with us and some of us started moving very slowly. But we still got to see quite a bit, and all the rain of the last week really paid off!

Checking out begonias that are about 4 times the size of the ones at home...

People resting their feet...

When everyone had their fill of the gardens, we headed into the CBD to catch a train back home. First, though, we stopped at the grocery store where a Vegemite purchase was contemplated.

Then it was off to the apartment for making pizzas and sharing a close-knit meal around our coffee table!

Not really meant for a family dinner, but it works!

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[Guest post] Lifes's a beach. And then some...

Here's my mom Nicki Burwinkle with her take on week two in Sydney. Thanks, mom!
-Christine

Here is a posting from Nicki about our adventures on Monday and Tuesday. Since Christine and Toby had to go back to work on Monday :( we were on our own. With a lot of coaching from Christine we were able to catch 2 trains and a bus and make it to Bondi without incident.

We walked the trail from Bondi to Coogee. Every bit of the way was spectacular – ocean views, unusual rock formations, and beautiful flowers at every part of the walk.

As we were about halfway through the walk, the wind picked up and became quite ferocious. At times it blew so hard I was staggering. It really made the last part of the walk quite a challenge and both of us were very tired by the time we reached the end. But it was so beautiful it was worth every bit of the effort and I would do it again if I had the chance.

We had a low-key evening at Christine and Toby’s and they fixed us some great pizza for dinner.

Tuesday’s pace was much slower – partly because I was still tired from the Bondi walk on Monday. We walked around the Central Business District and checked out some of the neat places Christine had recommended. The Strand was a great place – lots of cool stuff there. Christmas decorations and trees are sprouting up like mushrooms.

Before lunch we went up the Sydney Tower Eye (thanks to a Groupon from Christine). It was a quite an experience to look down and see many of the places we had already been. The view is unobstructed and seems to go on forever. We could easily see the building where C & T live and the building where we are staying.

We had a quick lunch at a market in the food court in the CBD (thanks to another Groupon from Christine). We got to experience all the hustle and bustle of lunchtime. There were lots of people, lots of noise and lots of commotion.

After lunch we hopped on the ferry to Manly. The ocean swells were quite large and we could really feel the boat rocking. In order to minimize the rocking, the captain actually altered his course and made a big arc instead of steering in a straight line. Tom and I both loved the ride. After checking out the shops and reinforcing ourselves with some TimTams we walked along the beach for a while. We were entertained by surfers, swimmers, paddleboarders and a childrens’ surfing school. The surfing lesson was great fun to watch. After some inside time (maybe classroom time?) about 60 kids in pink shirts came out to the beach carrying their surfboards. The coach released them in groups to run to the ocean. They were quite enthusiastic and reminded me of a school of colorful fish as they ran into the surf, carrying their boards.

Then came the highlight of our day – spending time with Christine and Toby.

We had reservations at the Havana Beach Café and Lounge in Manly (again thanks to a Groupon from Christine – are you noticing a pattern?) We sat at a table overlooking Manly Beach and had a delicious meal.

Coming home we walked across the bridge for some beautiful night views.

Weather was perfect and it was a perfect way to end the day.

Blue Mountains - Day 2

After the caves, we headed back into Mount Victoria. We stopped for lunch at a cute little cafe there where we convinced Mom & Dad that they needed to try the Australian standard of meat pies. And they loved them!

Mmmm pies!

And not to worry, I also made sure we tried some caramel slice too!
We also got a little bit of local color talking to the man who ran the cafe. He sells the pies and his wife bakes them!

After lunch we headed out to go check out all the sights we could fit into an afternoon. We went to all the ones I knew, which are the standard tourist spots, and we did a couple random gambles too. Everything was so beautiful and the weather was perfect, so I took way too many pictures. Here are some of my favorites though:

Going down the stairs to the Three Sisters

Mom at the stairway to the Three Sisters

Enjoying Echo Point

Panorama at Evans Lookout. And a Toby head

At the first sister

Bridal Veil falls

Leura upper cascades

And of course there's a standard Toby activity pose

Wally the wombat enjoying the mountains

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Blue Mountains - Jenolan Caves

On the schedule for Saturday morning was driving out to the Jenolan Caves. These had been on Mom & Dad's To Do list since they started planning their trip. They were about an hour away from where we were staying in Mount Victoria, so we got up early and left to get there when the ticket office opened.

The drive itself was really beautiful. I got Toby to take a picture for me so I could enjoy it later.

We also saw some 'roos out for their breakfast! This was the first wild kangaroo spotting for Mom and Dad.

The drive, while beautiful, was also a little intense. The last 8 kilometers were over a super narrow, windy road that went along the side of the mountain. Luckily we didn't meet any cars on the way in, as I'm not really sure how we would both have shared the road! We learned that they make the road open for one way traffic only during the peak times, which made a lot of sense to me.

The final bit of the drive went through a rock tunnel, which was also exciting to drive through!

My iPhone cave pictures were nothing spectacular, but Dad took some great ones with his camera and shared them with me.

You might think this is Indiana Jones, but it's actually Dad!

Before we left the caves to drive back toward the main tourist part of the mountains, T made friends with this bird that really wanted some of his apple.

Then we jumped back in the car for the drive back. We took the long way around this time around! Just as curvy, but the really narrow roads were a much shorter distance. Nonetheless, everyone was happy to get out of the car back in Mount Victoria and stand on solid ground for a while!

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The Blue Mountains - Lawson's Cottage

After our rainy start to the mountain getaway, we bought groceries in Katoomba and headed up to Mount Victoria to check into our cottage.

I'd booked us a cottage in Mount Victoria because I thought it was a good distance from all the tourist resources in Katoomba and a start on the way to Jenolan Caves. It had good reviews, but it turned out to be even cooler than I'd expected.

The cottage was built in 1870, and the inside has a lot of Victorian charm. It felt very homey from the get-go, and there were lots of vintage touches that made it interesting.

On the second night that we were there, the owners (who were staying next door) came by with some fresh salad greens for us. We made ourselves a lovely mountain dinner that night!

They also had this cute little guy with them, so we got to have a little dog time!

One of the surprise bonuses of the cottage is that it was a 15 minute walk to Sunset Rock, which was a giant rock outcrop looking west. There was no parking lot for it, no guardrails, and no advertisements for it. It was like our own private overlook!

The first night it was pretty misty from all the rain.

But the second night, we went out for sunset and had wonderful views.

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