Sydney

Okay, so, if you didn't know this already, I love Sydney! I have visited the city four times now and each trip leads to new adventures and surprises. Yes, I have toured the Opera House twice now and seen a show in one of the theatres there. No matter how many times you float past the structure while aboard the Manly Ferry, it is always a spectacular sight! While in the city this past trip, I took several more photos of the Harbour Bridge (I had never sat under it during a rain storm before!) and strolled through the Botanic Gardens, gawking at the insane number of bats hanging upside-down in the trees above - it never gets old!

Pete, Caitlin, Conor and I spent a day in the city and then traveled to Katoomba/the Blue Mountains (a two hour train ride from Sydney centre). Although we half expected it, the mountain air was cold! We hiked between Leura Cascade and Gordon Falls and paid a visit to the Three Sisters and Echo Point. We also rode on the world's steepest cable car line - with an incline of 52 degrees! We strolled through the rain forest for about an hour and finished the day with a "make-your-own" hot chocolate: dark chocolate chips melted fondue style with steamed milk and a metal spoon/straw. Yum!

As usual, we bunked with our friend John Blogg in Manly. John is a relative of one of Conor's co-workers and is a fabulous story-teller and host. His duplex style, 1900 home was once shared with none other than Peter Garrett, Australian musician (Midnight Oil), environmentalist, and Minister for the Environment, (although no longer an elected official after a government funded insulation project gone wrong!).

John set us up with warm beds and showers, good food and a fair amount of gin and beer. We had a great time staying with him, as always. Pete enjoyed John's "prawn sandwiches" while Caitlin was treated with her own jar of Robert Timms instant coffee (the closest thing to drip coffee here in Australia). 

After a few luxurious days, we hopped back in our van and headed further south. Along the way we experienced a rather unpleasant and surprising turn of events. We were driving along a six lane motorway when a woman driving a compact car came barreling across the median and collided head on with the car driving next to us. Conor slammed on the brakes just in time and we were able to avoid impact. The other two vehicles involved were not so lucky. We jumped out of the van and helped the two folks who had been traveling along aside us out of their vehicle. They were in absolute shock. The other driver was not so aware, and most likely knocked unconscious by the crash, and was extracted from her vehicle almost an hour later after ambulance and fire crews tore her tiny car apart. Our van was tied up in traffic for quite some time before we were able to escape the city. About an hour later Conor was pulled over for a random breath test. Although it only took moments for the police to clear Conor and for us to continue our travels, the stop was another roadblock in our travel to Melbourne.

After a quick stop in Canberra, Australia's capital city, we drove into the night and eventually stopped to eat and sleep in a small town, Albury, NSW. We parked next to some public toilets and a lovely park and enjoyed an episode of Flight of the Conchords before bed - a much needed laugh after such a long and stressful day.