Picture shows us having pre-opera drinks at the Opera House Bar

More pics can be seen in Google Pics; https://goo.gl/photos/hDUbuBDKgGkCuNGe6


...or in the Gallery; Just click on 'Gallery' above then the album 'Sydney and the Blue Mountains'

Next on the agenda was Sydney; the train took 11 hours from Melbourne and was very expensive, so we opted to fly - 1.5 hours and half of the train fare!
Friends Alison and Geoff (SY Saraoni) happened to be in Sydney for a few days and picked us up from the airport in their rental car. It was really great to see them again, we'd first met in Finike, Turkey and last met up when Quilcene and Saraoni were in the Caribbean so lots to catch up on!

The Saraonis took us for a coastal drive around the Sydney area, seeing Bondi Beach, Watson Bay, Botany Bay and the nearby Royal National Park, before leaving us to set off another epic trip - this time cycling from Sydney to Melbourne. They have travelled widely and already sailed right around the world. Here's a link to their amazing adventures - it makes impressive reading! http://www.sailblogs.com/member/saraoni/

Alone again we set about exploring Sydney, we stayed in an 'Air BnB' apartment in the Potts Point area, close to Kings Cross station and within walking distance of the Royal Botanic Gardens and the Sydney Opera House. Unfortunately we were there in the middle of a heatwave so on the hottest day (44C) we took the ferry from Circular Quay over to Manly Beach for a few hours where it was nice and breezy. I'd forgotten my swimmers but that was just as well; loudspeaker announcements warned of 'bluebottle' stingers coming in on the tide - Portuguese Man 'o War to us! Suddenly a swim didn't seem like such a good idea!

One of the highlights of our stay in Sydney was a visit to the Opera House; we'd booked for an early evening performance of 'best of..' arias from famous operas. It was wonderful to be inside the famous Opera House, and we treated ourselves to a glass of champagne during the interval. Afterward we walked back toward our apartment through the Botanic Gardens and stopped for pie 'n peas at Harry's famous pie stand in Woolomoolo Bay - a classy establishment!

One wet morning we took shelter in the Museum of Contemporary Arts and had an interesting time looking at Aboriginal Artworks. Later the ferry to Darling Harbour landed us right outside the National Maritime Museum so we spent the afternoon in another museum!

After all that culture we managed to find Sydney's Hard Rock Café just in time for Happy Hour!

Despite the heatwave we really enjoyed our week in Sydney, there was lots to see and do and the ferries were a great way to see the sights. It took a bit of getting used to seeing Ibis walking around on the city pavements - locals say they're a nuisance and treat them like we treat pigeons and seagulls in England. They shush them away and we take pics!!!

Soon it was time to head up into the Blue Mountains - named for the blue haze that is airborne droplets of eucalyptus oil combined with dust particles and water vapour, refracting rays of mainly blue light - or so I'm told!

It wasn't a lot cooler up there but it was very pretty! ...and the views across the escarpments were stunning! The heat prevented us from setting off on adventurous bushwalks, but we did hike along some of the shorter trails and loved hearing the exotic birdsong!

Katoomba where we stayed had some really interesting Art Deco style buildings, including the Carrington Hotel - where we didn't stay but would have loved to! Instead we settled for a sundowner on the terrace.