Around the world ....

Friday, September 17, 2004

bye bye australia

well today is my last day in Australia - tomorrow I head for New Zealand!

The Blue Mountains were great! First we were taken to a spot where the kangaroos 'grazed' and I've got a great shot of one eating the grass with it's Joey eating the grass from inside the pouch. For all you uninformed personages a 'joey' is the baby kangaroo. There were quite a few there (about 30) so it was quite good getting to see them in their natural habitat. Then we went on to a sight seeing point that of Australia's Grand Canyon! Wow I haven't seen America's but I don't think it will compare to Australia's green, lush one. From there we walked out to another view point. On the map the walk looked quite short and the guide reckoned about 1 hour to 1 and 1/2 hours. He took the minibus to meet us at the next point so once we started there was no turning back. Oh my god, there were sooooo many steps. We had to climb miles up and down the track along the edge of the canyon cliff. The walk was so short because the distance maily was vertical. But I made it as one of the first back. There was no race - but it was good to be before all the other 'fit' looking people (some of whom were smokers, claimed that the walk was very tough and that they could hardly breathe then proceeded to ask if they could smoke in that part of the area). The Three Sisters are not something I would call interesting, however I do like the Dreamtime Stories of them. That they were turned to stone by the witch doctor so either (1) the boys of the next tribe could not get them while the two tribes were waring. The witch doctor however was killed in the war and so could not turn them back; (2) so the local monster could not get them when their father was away, and that the witch doctor on running away from the monster lost his 'bone' and could not turn them back - so they wait till he finds it. I think that reads sense if not I'll try explaining it when I get home because it is too much bother today :-)

Yesterday I went to Manly on the Sydney ferry and had the intention of walking round the Head Land but as I tried to follow the land round I came upon some bushland and had quite a bit of climbing round rocks to do. This I was able to but after seeing one reasonable size lizard and watching another chase, kill and devour a moth with my foot quite near it I decided I'd better turn back and try following the streets. But again hampered by my (ruddy) blisters I decided too much walking was not going to help so sat on the beach for a few hours and came home burnt :-( So my idea of going again to Bondi and onto Bronte is out and instead I'm going to walk across the Harbour Bridge and get the view from the other side. The rest of the day might involve me having lots of coffee in wee cafes - just for the sake of it.

I have found one of Sydney's best shops and I hope I find quite a few more in New Zealand. The shop is called New Zealand Natural and they do Sorbet cones. The ectasy of it is really exciting - I've had two now (just as wee treats of course)!

Bye from the Aussie's and Hello to the Kiwi's