Writers cramp! ©
  • JOHN AND MARGARET'S FRONT PAGE~~
  • Copyrights Explained
  • Blog~~Scribblings~Scrawlings and Scratchings
  • Words ~ Words ~ More Scribbles
  • Gardening Blog
  • General Blog
  • John's Poetry ~2013
  • Friday Flasher
  • Inspiration Monday
  • Poem-a-day November 2016
  • 750 WORDS Section Two
  • Untitled
This above all; to thine own self be true. 
William Shakespeare

Day five~~Visit to~~Echo Point~~The Blue Mountains and Featherdale Wild Life Park

28/2/2013

0 Comments

 
Picture
Thursday
28th February 2013
We had a very early start today as we were booked on a coach trip to the “Blue Mountains” and the “Featherdale Wildlife Park”. The shuttle bus was due to collect us from the hotel at 7.30am so we had decided to stay in the hotel for breakfast. What a great idea that was, we had an amazing array of choices and everything was freshly cooked, the price of breakfast here in the hotel is very expensive but the quality is excellent. We were transported by the shuttle bus to a local coach station where we were transferred to a super luxury coach. We actually travelled across the iconic Sydney Harbour bridge on our way to the first stop of our day out. The driver gave us a very informative commentary on the history and construction of the bridge as we travelled across.
  
 
Our first stop of the day was a place called Echo point, which is about 4 hours away from Sydney where we stopped to enjoy the view and also enjoy an Aboriginal dance performance. The dancers were dressed in traditional Aboriginal costumes and they were heavily made up and painted with red and white paint signs on their faces and most of their visible body parts. There was a serious side to this very colourful and interesting stop as the tourists were treated to a very interesting lecture about  Aboriginal history, culture and lifestyle. A very good way of drawing people's attention to the plight and the circumstances of the original inhabitants of this wonderful continent. 

We boarded our coach for the next part of our journey to the Blue Mountains. The name is a description of the hazy blue atmosphere surrounding the mountains that is visible when they are viewed from a distance. The scenery along the route became gradually more fantastic with beautiful views of the rainforest and sandstone and granite rocks and valleys. We stopped at an attraction called Scenic World where we took a skylift down to the top station, the rainforest scenery was stunning as we travelled down to the Scenic World top station. We passed a fantastic waterfall, that fell many hundreds of feet down a sheer cliff face. In the distance was an amazing rock formation of three huge rocks standing upright on the top of a cliff, the aborigines call these rocks the “Three Sisters,” and they are a very photogenic attraction. From here we entered a cable car which dropped us down to a valley in the rainforest that was laid out in trails for the tourists to wander around and explore. The trails are well maintained and allow easy navigation through the rainforest with storm shelters and many different species of rainforest trees and plants. There was a sad lack of wildlife around, but the combined noise of the many tourists from all parts of the globe that were excitedly visiting this wonderful forest today, probably frightened the wild creatures away. A wonderful experience, with the beautiful views and scenery, but I do think we could have been allowed more time to explore before we had to catch the cable car to re-board our coach.

Our next stop was Leura, a very picturesque village in the Blue Mountains where we had lunch, most of our fellow coach passengers had signed up for lunch with the coach firm. Margaret and I had decided to wander around and explore the village and we found a lovely little cafe where we enjoyed a very nicely prepared sandwich and a pot of tea. “Leura has been given the name of ‘The Jewel in the Mountains Crown’ and is also known as "The Garden Village".
The name Leura itself is Aboriginal for ‘lava’. Many volcanic stones have been found in the area.”  We wandered around the handicraft and souvenir shops before taking our seats on the coach to continue our journey.

Then sadly it began to rain quite heavily as we headed for our next stop, Featherdale Wildlife Park, this for me was a highlight of our whole day as we were able to photograph and get up really close to the unique wildlife of Australia. Margaret and I had very wisely packed some rainwear and we were able to wander around taking many fantastic photographs of the wildlife on display in this wonderful park. There is a huge variety of wildlife around as soon as you enter the gates of the park. Many species of birds are on display, both caged and free and you can get really close up to them and admire their plumage and habits, including, eagles, owls, brolgas, emus, cockatoos and penguins. There were many koalas on display as we strolled around and many other marsupials including, kangaroos, wallabies, echidnas, bilbies, wombats and also reptiles including, crocodiles, lizards, snakes and frogs.
Not to mention the caged dingos and the tasmanian devil that was restlessly running round and round his enclosure wearing a pathway in the soil. We were lucky enough to be present when he was fed and he consumed a whole rabbits head, bones included, using his very powerful jaws to crush the bones. I was amazed to see some owls and a wild kookaburra tamely sitting on separate logs as we passed along the pathway and I wondered why they did not just up and fly away. I enquired if they were under sedation from one of the friendly keepers and she assured us they were injured and they were being nursed back to full health. Margaret and I snapped many photographs on our way around the park and I will have to put another slide show together to do them justice. The rain began to get heavier so we decided to head back to the coach. Another wonderful visit where we could have done with more time and less rain to enjoy the experience.

Our coach driver informed us that we could finish the day with a cruise back to Darling Harbour for an extra payment of eight dollars each. We decided to decline this offer as it was quite chilly and we preferred to go back to our hotel in the comfort of the coach. We arrived back at the hotel 45 minutes later tired and hungry.

The rain was still teeming down so I borrowed an umbrella from the hotel and we went off in search of a restaurant. Margaret‘s fantastic sense of direction then came into force and she remembered an Italian restaurant, named “Mama’s” that we have dined in before, on our last visit to Sydney. The food was as good as last time and we enjoyed a very well prepared, well served meal at a reasonable price. We then slowly made our way back to the hotel through the pouring rain to enjoy a well earned nights sleep and to re-live the day with the wonderful memories we have stored away.


Picture
0 Comments

DAY FOUR~~SYDNEY HARBOUR~~TARONGA ZOO

28/2/2013

0 Comments

 
Picture
Wednesday 27th February 2013

Today we have decided to visit Taronga Zoo in Sydney Harbour, we visited the Zoo before and we thoroughly enjoyed the experience.
We breakfasted in the same excellent little cafe in the Queen Victoria mall where we dined yesterday as we had been very satisfied with the food and the experience. The waiter remembered us and seated us at a nice little table by the window and yet again we were able to watch the commuting world rush by in droves. It was very interesting to note the obvious business breakfast meetings that were in progress while we were eating, the tables are laid out with seats for two diners and several of them were obviously in use for meetings or interviews.
After our breakfast we crossed the road to a food store with the intention of buying some food to take with us to the Zoo for lunch, we chose to buy two large foot long Subway rolls. We then made our way to Darling Harbour to buy tickets and catch the ferry to Taronga Zoo.
We were just in time to catch the 10.15am ferry and we enjoyed a wonderful ride across Sydney Harbour, past the Opera House and under the impressive Sydney Harbour Bridge. We stopped at Circular quay where we picked up some passengers. The Arcadia, a huge P&O cruise ship was docked there and quite a few of the passengers boarded our ferry to the Zoo. The sun was shining brilliantly and there was a nice breeze as we sped across the harbour past the Maritime Museum to our next stop which was Fort Denison. We were taking photographs of the wonderful view and the sights as we made the crossing to the Zoo. Sydney Harbour is reportedly the largest natural harbour in the world and the numerous ships and vessels using the harbour are a wonderful sight to savour.
We reached the docking area of Taronga Zoo where we had to catch a bus up the hill as the cable car that takes passengers to the Zoo had been damaged in a massive storm and was under repair. The numerous animals and birds from all over the world that are housed in this fantastic place are so obviously well cared for, it was a very great pleasure to wander around taking many photographs. My personal highlights were the many varieties of bird life on display and a very impressive photogenic male lion in the lion house with an impressive mane and eyes to match. There were so many other examples of amazing wildlife on display that I will only be able to do them justice with the aid of another slideshow of my photographs.
We had our lunch at a picnic area and there perhaps I really did experience my personal highlight of the whole visit. As we lunched a wild Kookaburra landed in front of us literally begging for food, he was shortly joined by another light coloured Kookaburra who landed on a branch overhead. There were also a number of exotic Chickens and a Rooster running around freely and a Brush Turkey, who had been stacking twigs behind us to make a nest made an appearance. The noisy Mynah birds were also vying for scraps of our food and then suddenly we noticed a wild lizard sunning himself on the top of a rock nearby. We quickly grabbed our cameras and snapped off some wonderful photographs during another truly memorable lunch time. We continued on our way and spent the rest of the afternoon visiting Elephants, Giraffes, Bears, Mountain Goats and many other wonderful creatures from around the world.
Picture
We then caught the 5.15pm ferry from the Zoo back to Darling Harbour, we were both very tired from our Zoo visit so we decided to have our dinner in a restaurant quite close to our hotel overlooking the harbour where there was a very good meal deal if we ate before 6.00pm. The food was good and very well prepared.  We enjoyed this wonderful experience at the end of a lovely day together, the evening sun was warm and we strolled back to our hotel, hand in hand,  to sleep and dream.

0 Comments

day three ~~Darling harbour ~~sea life aquarium.

27/2/2013

0 Comments

 
Tuesday 26th February 2013

We found a lovely little cafe-restaurant in town that served a delicious breakfast, this is situated in Queen Victoria Mall in a little square that is in the heart of Sydney city commuter land. It was very interesting just sitting enjoying some very well prepared food watching the people rushing by on the way to work. It is absolutely true that faces mirror the mind as there were hardly any smiling faces among the passers-by, reflecting the mundane daily worries going on behind the facade. The weather is absolutely gorgeous here compared to what we have been used to in England, it is so nice to wander around covered in suntan lotion in shorts and sandals without socks.  

We had planned to visit the Sealife aquarium on Darling Harbour today and then finish  the afternoon in the quiet of the beautiful Chinese garden nearby. We started as planned and began exploring “Sea Life” which is huge and is spread out on three floors of tanks and aquariums. Margaret and I were overawed by the colours, shapes and sizes of the varieties of marine life on display, and we began to take many photographs as we leisurely walked around the exhibition. I think there is every conceivable example of sea life imaginable on display here from deep sea sharks, turtles and numerous examples of brightly coloured reef fish. These fish are all kept in conditions that resemble their natural environment as closely as possible, and they are fed a natural diet mingled with whatever else is available that is acceptable to the fish. The tanks are cleverly built so that they run both over your head and on each side of the walkway, and they even run underneath the walkway in some places. This added a wonderful richness to our visit as it seemed as if we were in the water with this incredible array of marine life.
 I could not help noticing how many varieties of fish and marine animals were all closely confined together and yet they all seemed to coexist without too much trouble. I think lessons could be learned from this coexistence by keeping a healthy distance without intruding on the space or the way of life of others. We spent all day just wandering around this wonderful aquarium and we both felt contentedly tired. We decided to postpone our visit to the Chinese Garden and we headed back to the hotel where we changed for our evening meal.

We were then faced with the decision of where to eat and as we were still quite tired from our fishy visit, we decided to dine in a restaurant called “The Hard Rock Cafe” which is quite close to the hotel. This proved to be an interesting decision, we did not know quite what we were letting ourselves in for. The music was very loud, the place was packed with diners which can be a good sign and we had to wait 20 minutes to get seated.
When we did get seated and served, we found the food was good and the portions were huge and we soon began to put up with the music volume and enjoy the food. After our dinner we made our way back to our hotel and went to bed.



0 Comments

Day two ~~Park Royal Hotel ~~Darling harbour.

26/2/2013

1 Comment

 
Picture

Monday 25th February  2013

 We caught a shuttle bus from the airport at 8.45am. We checked into our hotel, “The Park Royal”, on Darling Harbour at about 9.30am, we were very fortunate to be informed that our room was ready for us and we could move in straight away. We deposited our suitcases in our hotel room 729, where we discovered we had a beautiful view of Darling Harbour from our window and the room was welcoming and comfortable. We both freshened up and changed our clothes into something a lot more summery, to gel with our new beautiful first taste of Australia’s wonderful sunshine. 
 We headed out to explore the beautiful harbour area where we had lunch as the memories of our last visit to Australia came flooding back. Tiredness and jet-lag began catching up with us and we returned to our hotel to sleep the jet-lag off. In the evening we went out again to Darling Harbour, where we enjoyed a really nice Thai meal and had a wonderful time exploring. The area around Darling Harbour is very vibrant and alive with many people just wandering in the warmth of the evening enjoying life. After dinner we returned to the hotel and a good nights sleep. 

1 Comment

Day One ~~Heathrow to Sydney

24/2/2013

0 Comments

 
Picture
Saturday 23rd February 2013


 The weather was freezing when we were collected from home by our driver Roger at 2pm. His mission was  to take us to Heathrow Airport,  A taxi ride to Heathrow Airport that was interesting in the way that we learned a very great deal about Roger and his life as a taxi driver. Apparently he is a part time employee of the taxi firm that we use,and he is employed to cover the overflow. The traffic was very light and we had a clear way for most of the journey.


We arrived at the airport and checked our luggage in and made our way through the customs which we cleared pretty quickly and easily, We then settled ourselves down for a long wait as our flight was due to take off at 9.30pm. Margaret had prepared some delicious baguettes and we made short work of those. There is nothing more interesting than people-watching at a very very busy international airport, all shades and descriptions of human life are on display. Margaret went off to purchase some duty-free perfume as a birthday present for Liz, while I sat and studied the varieties of human life that were travelling from London to many different areas of the world.

We boarded the aeroplane which was in the very familiar Qantas colours, and settled ourselves in our seats ready for the long flight ahead. Cramped seats, airline food and watching the progress of the flight from the flight path view on the monitor. Sleeping for much of the time and thirteen hours later we arrived at Singapore airport, stiff and ready for a break. An hour later we re-boarded our aircraft and took the same seats to continue our journey to Sydney. Two more delicious airline gourmet meals? Whoever decided to serve spaghetti aboard a cramped aircraft with a plastic knife and fork is an evil genius. Seven hours later we arrived at our destination, Sydney airport at 6.45am, on Monday, on the wonderful continent of Australia. We then got through customs very easily, Margaret declared some Pork scratchings that she had bought as a promised present for son-in-law Mark, and I declared a straw hat that I was wearing, because of the straw content.

We had left our home at 2.00pm on Saturday 23rd February and arrived at Sydney airport at 6.45 am on Monday 25th February. The various time bands meant we had lost a day somewhere, no doubt to be gained on the way back.

The sun was shining gloriously~The exact opposite to England in the Winter~All the horrors engendered by the long haul flight vanished instantly.


0 Comments
    Picture

    Author

    John with Margaret living our Australian .visit all over again. Wonderful happy memories and interesting times~~

    Archives

    March 2013
    February 2013

    Categories

    All

    RSS Feed

Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.