Sydney to Melbourne

Revisiting the Sydney Harbour area

We arrived in Sydney ready to experience a bit of the Aussie lifestyle. After picking the hire car up at the airport we drove down to see the Sydney Harbour area.  Having visited Sydney a few years ago, we just wanted a little taste before setting off to the Blue Mountains.

The end of the working week in Sydney

It was Friday afternoon on the 11.11.11 and the area around the Opera House and the Royal Botanic Gardens were crowded with several wedding parties and after work gatherings. It was a lively, early summer atmosphere. It was nice to spend a few hours reminiscing over the last time we were here.

Abseiling down the Empress Falls

Posing infront of The Three Sisters

The Three Sisters

Ferns in the Grand Canyon

In the early evening we started our journey towards the Blue Mountains, staying the night in Penrith and quickly moving on to the  Wentworth Falls area the next morning. The scenery was beautiful and lush, and so different from the Norwegian forests and mountains.  We walked to the Empress Fall from the Conservation Hut. The stream has made a deep canyon that look like a mini Grand Canyon but with a Rain Forest at the bottom. A popular Australian activity in this area is Canyoning and abseiling down the waterfalls. It looked like cold, but exciting. In Norway we walk up the mountains, here we had to walk down into the canyon and then climb back up again. Just before sunset we arrived in Katoomba where we enjoyed the view of The Three Sisters and the mountains which looked slightly blue in the distance. White cockatoos flew below us above the rainforest. These birds showed up really well against the lush vegetation below.

Walking in the Canyon

One of the many waterfalls

A visit to the The Scenic World was next. We drove on the reputedly steepest railway track in the world, walked the Scenic boarded walkway through the ancient rainforest and took the Scenic Skyway across the valley with a good view of the Katoomba Falls, The Three Sisters and Mount Solitary. We then drove on to Blackheath and The Grand Canyon Walk which had waterfalls, and a deep canyon that we followed for a couple of hours. We saw several Lyre Birds with nice tails. These birds are ground dwelling and seldom fly. We also saw some Red Crayfish in the streams we walked past. We also enjoyed the view from the Evans lookout which reminded us of the Grand Canyon in Arizona. In the evening we drove the Megalong valley which was more like pleasant English countryside. We enjoyed our time walking in the Blue Mountains and could happily have stayed there for longer, but it was time to head southwards.

Some Stalactites in Jenolan Caves

On the way southwards we stopped off at the Jenolan Caves. There are numerous subterranean limestone chambers. The night was spent in Goulborn before spending the next day in Canberra. Luckily we visited Canberra and the Parliament House the day before President Obama came to town.  The Parliament House was completed in 1988 and is situated next to Lake Burley Griffin together with all the other major monument. 

The Parliament building in Canberra

One of the many beaches along the way

Batemans bay was next on the agenda. We walked along the coast where we saw a number of black kockatoos eating some seeds from the trees. There were numerous quiet beaches surrounded by cliffs and trees. We only wished we could have spent more time enjoying them before the drive down to Lakes Entrance. The Gippsland Coastline has the largest inland lake system in Australia. The lakes entrance is the only entrance from the Gippslands Lakes to the sea. Again we marvelled at the lovely beaches and secluded coves.

Lakes Entrance

Before arriving at Melbourne we stopped off at Phillip Island to watch the Penguin Parade. We saw hundreds of penguins coming out of the sea. They settled in the dunes where they preened themselves and fed their hungry young. It was a wonderful sight, but the smell was not so sweet, smelling of fish and penguin pooh.

Melbourne by day

Melbourne by night

We had a couple of days in Melbourne before catching a flight to Perth to visit Elisabeth and the family. The day we arrived in Melbourne was really hot. We decided to make the most of it since rain was forecast. We wandered around visitng a number of the highlights. We were tempted to buy fruit at the bustling Queen Victoria Market before visiting St Pauls and   St Patricks Cathedral. We especially liked the St Pauls Cathedral designed by the English architect William Butterfield. It was finished in 1981. The style is described as Gothic Transitional. Afterwards we strolled in the the 18th century glass archades.

One of the Arcades in Melbourne

It was just as well that we spent the day walking around the city in over 34 C becasue the next day it rained all day. We spent the time in the Ian Potter Centre that is dedicated to Australian art.

Our drive down from Sydney to Melbourne is at an end. We are now going to fly to Perth where we will visit Elisabeth and Kristian.

Fiji

One of the many small islands

The plan for Fiji was simple; enjoy a week on the beach with snorkeling to see the underwater life on the coral reef and take part in some of the resort's activities. We had booked into the Blue Lagoon Beach Resort on the Nacula island, part of the Yasawa chian of islands to the north west of mainland Fiji. After landing and taking the complementary bus to the marina we boarded the Yasawa Flyer, a high speed catamaran ferry stopping at all the main island resorts. The voyage took about 4 and a half hours. The first few island stops look exactly how you imagine a small tropical island should look. Sand all around with palm trees lining the beach. It looked like they would take about 10 minutes to walk around.

Island idyl

Getting into the Fijian spirit

Our island was considerably bigger and would take several hours to walk around. The Flyer, as the ferry is referred to, is too big to negotiate the numerous coral reefs outside each resort. Therefore, smaller outboard boats would pull up alongside and take the passengers and their luggage into the beach. The luggage was often thrown from the Flyer to someone who would catch it on the waiting smaller boat. Statistically they were bound to drop one overboard every so often but luckily we saw our bags safely on the deck. One of the first things we noticed was how sunburnt alot of the people were. We resolved that we would not look like that when it was our turn to leave and therefor we used up a whole sun tan spray can supplimented by factor 60 on our faces and shoulders. This plan succeeded.

The Welcome Committee

When we disembarked on the beach the local people gave us a traditional Fiji welcome dressed in straw skirts and singing with guitars playing the local rythms. As we were later to see, this happened twice everyday as people left the island and as the new comers arrived.

Shades of blue and green

Our accommodation was a simple room with a double bed and a fan on the ceiling in the middle of the room and not a lot else. We only slept in the room so this was fine. The bathroom facilities were shared with the other guests and although we were a bit sceptical at first but we soon got used to brushing our teeth next to our neighbours in their underpants. Those paying more forfeited these early morning and evening intimacies.

The local village

So, all that remained was to throw ourselves into the daily routine of lying on a sunbed and cooling off in the sea at regular intervals. Cooling off wasn't as effective as it is in Norway since the temperature of the water was 29C on the warmest day. We have not done much snorkeling before and so the colours of the tropical fish never ceased to make us smile to ourselves whilst our heads were underwater.

View from the walk to the village

There were several trips available everyday: We walked with our barefooted guide up the nearest 'mountain' along the ridge and then down to sea and along the beach back to the Blue Lagoon. This took just over 2 hours. From the top you could see a beautiful view of the whole island and all the coral reefs surrounding it.

We had a great trip to a limestone cave that required a short underwater swim to get into and a torch to see anything once inside.

The local fishermen delivered dinner

Hmm, dancing with the locals

We visited the local village where 450 people lived. They put on a traditional dance in the village hall and sang for us. They put out their handicrafts where Iren bought a pink shell necklace.

We also thought we would take a diving course over 4 days. We took the introduction course which involved watching a video covering the basics of how to use the equipment etc. After that we got into the water to practice what we had learned and then went diving for about 30 minutes. Unfortunately Iren felt queazy and it gave her a headache so we decided not to do the 4 day course. However, we got a certificate which means that we can dive with a guide if we want to in other places on our trip.

This is the life

First prize: Breakfast on the beach

Meal times were very sociable as all the guests ate together. We met lots of nice people during the week ("Hello!", if you're reading this) and so it was always a bit sad when the new friends we had got to know had to leave. Many people were doing the same as us so there was alot of talk about travelling. Our week soon came to an end although the last breakfast was a bit different since our team had won the prevoius nights 'Survivor'  (quiz and games in the bar) competition with a first prize of a Champagne breakfast on the beach.

Bye, bye Fiji!

The end of another relaxing day

The Flyer then took us back to Nadi where we stayed for one night before catching an early flight to Sydney. Next week we will be driving from Sydney to Mellbourne via the Blue Mountains.