Tag: blue mountains

Blue Mountains, and Bondi Beach, Australia

February 26, 2011

We’re in Bondi Beach today and we’ll be here until we leave for home on Tuesday. We heard that Bondi Beach is famous for its beaches and surfing. We didn’t actually want to stay in this town, but this happens to be a very busy week-end in the Sydney area and “everything” else was booked up. We’re only about 15 minutes out of Sydney so we’ll still go in for the day. Bondi Beach isn’t what I expected. It’s crowded and not very pretty or quaint. I guess you could say this is the first place we have been to that I was not excited about. Maybe it’s all in the plans, so I’m not too sad about leaving!

The kids are at a Rugby game in Sydney tonight. They took the 5:00 train, so I have the night to myself. I bought a nice bottle of red wine, fixed a vegetarian dinner for myself, and am quite enjoying the night.

Before getting here, we spent three nights in the Blue Mountains. Oh! What beauty! The Blue Mountains are two hours west of Sydney and unbelievably beautiful. We spent two days hiking and saw numerous waterfalls and the most wonderful forests. The hike on the second day had 900 steps down into the valley and 1000 back up! It was all worth it and we did it with no problem.

In the Blue Mountains, there were flocks of Cockatoos everywhere. I love watching them in nature and can’t imagine ever caging such a happy, free animal, or any animal for that matter. They were loud and not real serene sounding. There are also Black Cockatoos. I didn’t get to see them but Eliot saw a flock one day while we were driving.

Australia has been a real treat to visit. The people seem to be very relaxed and kind. I guess it’s hard to be in “the fast lane”, here as 95% of the roads are two lanes; including the freeways. The speed limit isn’t very fast and there are reminders everywhere to slow down and take a break. Driving the coast to this area was about a 10 hour drive and it was through little towns and forests. The freeway goes through the towns. It would be the equivalent of driving US1 all the way up the coast vs highway 95. In fact, that is the way my family traveled to Canada for many years before highway 95 was built.

I recommend visiting this country to anyone that has ever wondered about it. There is something for everyone here. It was nice to see that there isn’t as much “fear” of the crocodiles as we heard from the states, or of the great white sharks. Things are always different when you get somewhere. I’m happy that I have been able to see, first hand, what life is like in Australia and New Zealand! If my kids would come, I think Joe and I would try our best to move to one of these two countries.

Bryon Bay, Australia (Hippie Town)

February 23, 2011

We spent two nights in Bryon Bay! Byron Bay is a quaint, old, small hippie town a few hours south of Brisbane. Byron Bay has beautiful beaches, and one of the things that make them so beautiful is the coast line and the mountains in the background. There is a Lighthouse you can hike to and this Lighthouse sits on the easterly most point in Australia. At this point, the way the waves come in and break, surfers can get a 20-25 second ride; which is a long time standing on a surf board! Again, the tides were very strong; like it was hard to even stand in one place without being pulled. I guess that’s the story everywhere here.

We’re on a 10 hour drive to the Blue Mountains. It is supposed to be very beautiful and a great place to hike. We’re being brave and daring today. We started the day out at 6:30 and went to a place called “Minion Falls” for a five hour hike. It was drizzling when we got there so we decided we would start with an hour in and then reevaluate. About the time to reevaluate, we began noticing little inch worm leaches on our ankles and shoes. We had another encounter with them a few weeks ago and it wasn’t pretty! They look cute at first but then you realize they are burrowing into your skin at an amazing speed and you have to pull hard to get them off. They even burrow into shoes and socks! We decided with the rain, blood suckers, and the long drive ahead, that we had seen enough of Minion Falls. On the way out we got to see two large “Kookaburras”, which allowed us to get very close for observation.

Two things I love about Australia are the National Parks and the birds. Everywhere you look, there are National Parks to hike and explore. Although there is less than 10 percent of the Rainforests that was once here, there still seems to be a lot. The birds are so amazing! At Byron Bay there were flocks of hundreds of beautiful, colorful parrots flying around and chattering. The Magpie’s have the most amazing voice and I could never tire of listening to them. The Kookaburras too are so outstanding to see and listen to as they make a loud “laughing” sound, even in the nighttime.

Our time is nearing the end here and I am feeling a bit sad about it. I love this country and the diversity it has to offer. I am trying to remain on the vibration of “love” for what I have experienced here and not let the feeling of sadness enter. One of the most important lessons I have learned on this trip is “trust” and the faith to “let go” and know that there is a plan and it will be revealed every step of the way. We have completely lived one day at a time here and so many times what we thought we were going to do didn’t happen but something just as good or better did! I don’t even think more than a day in advance anymore. I wonder how that will work when I get home!