 |
 |
|
|
 |
 |
 |
 |
| Up the Turret |
| After checking into a YHA hostel and a night
in Darling Harbour, it was time to do the tourist thing. Sydney
was my kind of city. Pity the Swedish guy who designed this
has never seen it. |
|
 |
| Spectacular Sydney Sunset |
As we rounded the corner into Sydney Harbour
on the way back from Manly one evening, we were confronted
with this. The whole ferry spontaneously
applauded. It was magical. I had never seen a sunset like
it - the extreme colors went from deep oranges to purples.
More Pics...
|
|
|
| Kings Cross Car Market |
| We needed some wheels and after some deliberation,
there was only one vehicle that was going to get us around Oz.
We bought this 1972 1.6 off Jo and Clive for $5,000. Tinted
windows, Satellite Dish, CD player, TV, 3-way fridge, tent and
phone. Sorted. |
|
 |
| Blue Van, Blue Mountains |
| After settling in to a campsite 25 minutes
from the CBD, we decided to go for our first adventure in the
Combi. Now, this is a stressful vehicle to drive, so what better
than to go up a bloody great busy hill out of Sydney to Katoomba
in the Blue Mountains at top whack of 80km/h - downhill. |
|
|
 |
| Wentworth Falls |
| The Wentworth Falls track was the first walk
we did in the Blue Mountains. It is about 500m high and what
I would describe as a "sprinkler". When we noticed
it over a railing at a lookout, it made us whoop like Americans. |
|
 |
| Blue Mist |
| People had not exaggerated how beautiful this
National Park is. For me, I was astounded how immense the forest
was. On the way home we checked out the damage caused by the
Xmas fires and were forced to camp in a Penrith car park. |
 |
|
| |
The Blue Mountains forests
cover 247,000 Ha and contain ancient forests of gum trees. |
 |
| Blue Moutains Lizard |
We found this magnificent large lizard basking
in the sunshine on our walk .
|
|
 |
 |
| Jenolan Caves River Camp |
This is what we were after. A treacherous
descent to a deserted river with hundreds of butterflies
to cook a hand-line caught trout by campfire on our own
candlelit table. Our only company was a persistent hungry
possum.
|
|
|
 |
| Lane Cove Crash Site |
We arrived back in Sydney to find our friends
Rich and Jo had a newly shaped car. This pretty much looked
like game-over for them but the ever-resourceful Rich managed
to get it back roadworthy with a hammer, a camp-stove and some
glue.
|
| Wine Self Tour |
 |
| We toured the main wine houses including Rothbury,
Lindeman, Tyrrells, McGuigans and Peterson's Champagne. Each
was accompanied by a small tasting session and finished with
a sleepy lawn lunch. |
|
 |
| Box Wine |
| By now we had all acquired a taste for cheap
box wine. Jo and Rich were regularly seen walking the campsite
with a silver bag in hand like a couple of glue sniffers. The
infamous Banrock Station became our tipple, £5 for 4 litres. |
| Macleans Lookout |
 |
The night was spent drinking McGuigans wine
by a campfire in the bush at Macleans Lookout. My dull hangover
was cleared by the beautiful sunrise and the prospect of my
first trip to a long-drop toilet.
|
|
 |
| Wine Tasting |
| After a few days shopping for Holly's wedding
dress and enough box wine to cater an Eastbourne wedding, it
was time for a little culture in the Hunter Valley. |
 |
|
|
 |
 |
| Jervis Bay |
| On the beach there were grazing roos - my first
close encounter close to wild kangaroos. They were a little
human savvy though, and I had one massive one paw me for my
sandwiches and chase me around a tree Keystone Cop style. |
|
 |
| Depot Beach Camp |
| Randomly travelling around the Murramarang
National Park, we came across this beautiful spot. No rangers
around - time to pitch up, snap open some VBs and get a camp
fire going. Everything was chilled until 11:30 when some headlights
appeared. Ranger Alert! No fine thankfully, registration taken. |
|
 |
| Fisher Queen |
| Holly's 3lb bream was caught using just bread.
Our fishing companion was an Argentinian who had fished that
spot for 23 years. He assured us that we would never catch anything
with bread. Holly ate the whole thing back at the Sydney campsite. |
|
|
| |
 |
| Port Stephens |
| After a couple of days on the road we decided
to hole up in Nelson Bay. We saw a fairy penguin pop up whilst
swimming fished the local headland and climbed Tomaree Head.
|
|
 |
| Wild Koalas |
| We heard you could see Koalas in the wild at
Lemon Tree Passage. They turned out to be really sleepy and
high in trees. This is the best shot I could get of one. |
|
 |
| Hallidays Point |
| The luxurious Big4 campsite was deserted and
with a one minute walk to the beach we did a great nature walk
and listened to the roar of the sea crashing in at night. |
|
 |
| Nambucca Heads |
 |
| Byron Bay Fish Haul |
|
 |
| Dangar Falls, Near Dorrigo |
| |
For me, Bryon Bay as a town was disappointing.
So damn commercial and full of pissheads. This walk to the lighthouse
was great and we had some brilliant weather. This was topped
off with watching a pod of dolphins surf the waves with the
Mother and child bursting out the back of it jumping clean in
the air. It was absolutely incredible. Then a sharks appeared
and the show was over.
|
|
|
|
|
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
