Sydney, Australia (Blue Mountains Part 2)

The following days at Blue Mountains were wet. We were all glad that we have covered the scenic lookouts on the first day.

On the second day it rained very heavily in the morning, therefore we went out late when the rain got smaller. The only tourist spot we visited that day was the Jenolan caves.
Thanks to the GPS error, which brought us to Jenolan caves through the narrow, muddy country-side roads, instead of the faster, broader highway path. However we enjoyed the sceneries very much and were glad that we took this route. Saw the other beautiful, peaceful side of the country. Big grasslands everywhere, animals roaming freely on the land and we even caught sight of a family of wild kangaroos along the way.









Some brief information below, extracted from www.jenolancaves.org.au

Regarded as Aust most outstanding cave syst - with 11 spectacular show caves, pure underground rivers and amazing formations - Jenolan caves is among the finest and oldest cave systems in the world.

Finally arriving at our destination...









There were different time slots allocated for each caves visit, and entrance fee is payable for visiting each caves. We just chose whichever is available in the next best time slot, which was the Imperial cave.

Below are some shots taken from inside the Imperial cave. Truly the rock and limestone formations are spectacular...

There is an underground river within the cave itself... Impressive!!








Third (also the last) day at the Blue Mountains, it continued to rained intermittently... No plans and no where to go in the morning in this rainy & cold weather...




We started heading back towards the Sydney City about lunchtime. On the way back, still drizzling, we passed by the Featherdale Wildlife Park.


In this wildlife park, some animals are allowed to roam around freely and "interact" with the human visitors. This is the first time I came this close to Koala bears and Kangaroos, and even hand-feed them...

It's like a mini-zoo, there are other animals, like little penguins, birds, reptiles, even bats... (of course the bats and reptiles are kept in cages...)

Those who belong to the "birds family"...










These are called "Little Penguins"...




Told ya... Bats and reptiles are well-kept in cages...




Erm... Anyone knows what these are called?? I didn't get their name...






The Kangaroos...








And of course, not to forget the Koala Bear!!
Heard that koala bears need many, many, many, many number of hours of sleep everyday...
See how it's enjoying its beauty sleep... Wah shiok leh!!








To be continued...

Sydney, Australia (Blue Mountains Part 1)

Went for a business trip to Sydney in early April. I extended my stay there with a few of my colleagues so we have more time to explore the beautiful city in Australia, especially nice to travel there during the cool weather.

We visited a few tourist attractions in the suburbs and stayed in "Bed & Breakfast" style accomodation, these included the famous Blue Mountains and Hunter Valley. While most of the time we were together, there are few ocassions where I enjoyed exploring around on my own too.

Whether in the City or Suburbs, the sceneries, people, landmarks, everything is just soooooo beautiful that I just can't stop shooting away with my DSLR. When I came back, I realised I have taken over 1200++ pictures. Went through a long process of selection and still have so much pictures I wanted to share here, so I have to divide them into different episodes, according to the places which I went to... Enjoy!!!

I'll start off with the Blue Mountains.

The Blue Mountains National Park is located about 2 to 3 hours drive to the West of Sydney.
It offers spectacular scenery, plantlife and wildlife. The mountains reach a height of 1100m, and have been given their name due to the blue haze that hovered above the mountains produced by the oil from the plentiful Eucalyptus trees. Plenty of scenic lookout points and points of interest along the journey through to Blue Mountains. We drove there in 2 cars and stayed for a total of 3 days.

One of the very first Point of Interest we visited when we arrived at Blue Mountains on the first day is the Wentworth Falls.




We had to walk these narrow paths and down the stairs to reach the falls, and had to climb back upwards after that.










We were told by one of the tourist centres staffs that the next few days will be rainy and it would be best to visit the attractions today since it was a good weather day. We also knew that it would be dark very early during this period of the year. (Usually it starts to get dark about 5.30pm onwards because it is near winter)
Therefore we decided to visit as many lookout points as we could that day, before we "check in" to our accomodation when it's about to get dark.

Next, we went to another Point of Interest, Echo Point, where we can have a good view of the famous 3 Sisters Rock Formation.




The Three Sisters rock formation were formed by erosion. These soft sandstone is easily eroded over time by wind, rain and rivers. Eventually the Sisters will be eroded away completely.









Some shots from another less popular lookout point, called Black Heath. I was told that Black Heath is the highest point in Blue Mountain, therefore one could have better views of the mountain sceneries from that height. (Though it seemed to be the same to me)






Wonder what machine is that?? Probably he is making a movie starring the mountains and clouds...



About 6pm local time, we finally checked-in to our accomodation and drove out to the town area for dinner, worried that the cafes or eateries were closing soon. To my surprise, there are many Chinese eateries and restaurants around.
True enough, it started drizzling and the weather turned cold, dropped at least 5 degree celcius lower or more.
This shot above is taken from the restaurant we ate in. It is only local time 7.30pm. But it looks like 11pm to me back in my home town.

To be continued...