So last Wednesday I spent a leisurely morning in bed, and then just before lunch headed for Central station. My housemates thought I was barmy going so late but I really wanted to see the Blue Mountains nearer the sunset. The train ride was 2 hours long but some of the views were fantastic as we climbed up into the mountains. Oh by the way, $11.40 return, for a, in total, 4 hour train trip. What's that England? Is that you spluttering in the background?
If you stay in the Blue Mountains overnight, then the hop-on-hop-off buses are probably a good deal, but if you just want to do Scenic World in a day like I did, just get a taxi. It's $10 and you don't have to wait, but make sure you get the taxi phone number because they don't sit and wait outside Scenic World as I discovered. Anyway, it's $28 for the steepest railway in the world (says Guinness Book Of Records, and Scenic World Staff over and over and over and... *repeats somewhere in the background*), the cable car, the walk through the forest, and 2 trips on the Skyway (just another big cable car really). I loved the railway, although when I was little I apparently felt very differently about the experience, and walking through the forest was cold this time of year but I was on my own the entire way round so I ran around quite a bit while squealing (I honestly did this. It was awesome).
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| No one to the left of me, no one to the right, here I am, running round like a lunatic, LaLaLaaaa |
The views are really quite stunning, even for someone like me who looks at scenery and says, to quote Flynn Rider (Tangled), "I could get used to a view like this..... yep, I'm used to it." I have about 100 photos of the same view, just from slightly different angles. After the first Skyway trip I made my way along the walk to the Three Sisters and just about died going up the stairs on the way back. I'd passed an older couple coming the other way on the way down and they were absolutely fine. Me? Thought I was going to pass out. Honest to god. I had a sit down just to make sure I didn't faint.
The sunset over the Blue Mountains will be different for different times of the year, so the spectacular colours I'd seen in some photos online must be at a different time of year to now. But what I can say for May is that, at sunset, the Blue Mountains are very very blue. During the day I could not see what the people were talking about. Everything was clearly green and brown. But just before the sun hit the horizon the views went kind of misty and then turned blue. Happy I am to see that I saw blue Blue Mountains.
Also, here is my video of my 2 days off so you can see my experience in moving picture form:
Those Sunny Days In Sydney <-- Click Here
On Sunday I experienced something that I've wanted to try for aaaaaaaaages.
ASIAN KARAOKE!!!
If you haven't a clue, Asian karaoke is where you book a room in a karaoke... place, and you go with a group of friends and sing endless songs and drink a lot. I LOVE IT! It is absolutely hilarious to sing Japanese/Korean songs when you can't speak Japanese/Korean. Luckily I do know some of the dance moves so I provided the back up dances until they sang a line in English. And I introduced My Asian roommates to the musical masterpiece that is The Fast Food Song.
Aaaaaaaaaaaaa Pizza Hut, a Pizza Hut, Kentucky Fried Chicken and a Pizza Hut!
Oh Yeah!
So, in terms of my excuses for posting this 4 days late, well, I am leaving Sydney *wells up, fans eyes*. I cannot believe it has come so quickly, but I have now saved up my monies (and spent them again on flights and accommodation) and I am travelling for the next month and a bit around Australia. I'm feeling rather nervous about going into the unknown, although you'd think I'd be used to it by now. Once I'm away, I'll be absolutely fine, which has always been the case. No backwards glances for me. The hardest bit has always been the actual motions of leaving. I am leaving behind some awesome people and great colleagues and a city I have come to adore (and I haven't eaten at all the restaurants I wanted to yet! Damn).
BUT.
I am off tomorrow (Wednesday) at 2.30pm on a plane to the Gold Coast. After a week I shall get a coach to Brisbane and stay with some friends I haven't seen since Hong Kong (when I lived there, not when I holidayed there which wasn't that long ago), and then I shall fly to Cairns for a week of beaches and the Great Barrier Reef. Then it's a longer flight down to Melbourne (and probably a goodbye to any warm weather) where I shall see another old friend and my DAD IS COMING TO SEE ME! He misses me that much. Oh yeah! ...... or rather he misses Australia and is using me as an excuse to participate in a mini gap year. Either way, my accommodation gets a little better halfway through the trip, haha! Excellent.... only joking Dad (he reads this).
From Melbourne we get The Overland train to Adelaide, and after Adelaide we get the overnight Ghan train to Alice Springs where we get to feed wild wallabies *EEEEEE-contain yourself, Eleana*, and then a shuttle trip (plus optional camel ride, although dad opted out straight away) to Ayers Rock. After a few days there it'll be back to Sydney for a few days and then back to England and onto a whole new adventure. I guess I'll have to change the name of this blog then, as I'll no longer be a pommie. What is a British person in America called? Hmmm.
So there you have it. I will be trying to update this blog while on my trip because I'm addicted to the internet and will be suffering withdrawal symptoms when I can't just google something. Here's to brave new adventures!
TTFN!
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