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Blue Mountains and Taronga Zoo

We went on a tour of the blue mountains yesterday. Our tour guide was impossibly tanned for a guy that was born in Glasgow. Even his lips were brown. He was so blatantly gay too, even though he pretended otherwise. The tour group were mostly OK, apart from an annoying, mouthy, racist South African that just wouldn’t stop moaning throughout the tour.

The views of the mountains were spectacular. You could just about see the blue haze that the mountain’s name comes from. It’s caused by eucalyptus vapour coming of the trees and mixing with the air.

We got to see some kangaroos in the wild too. They really are amazing creatures. I can’t believe I ate one for dinner a couple of nights ago (it didn’t taste very nice though I have to say).

On the way back we were all piled onto a ferry near the olympic park. The sun was setting around this time so the view from the harbour with everything lit up was quite nice.

In the evening we went out on Oxford Street. We started off at some greek restaurant. It was not an entirely pleasant experience. I cut into a piece of chicken and it was raw and bloody inside. We quickly lost our appetite after that and decided it was time to move on to the bar. We met a nice couple there, and after a few drinks they suggested that we try another bar down the road. It was interesting to say the least. Though I have to say bars full ofr men in leather fetish gear and chains hanging from the walls are not really my cup of tea. Needles to say we only stayed for a couple of drinks before moving on.

I woke up today with the hangover from hell. Andy didn’t look too good either. But we decided we should go out anyway, and so got a taxi down to Circular Quay to catch a ferry to the zoo. It was a much more pleasant experience than visiting London Zoo, even with a hangover.

In the evening we went to a restaurant around Circular Quay. It was rather disappointing though. The food definately wasn’t as good as the view.

Manly

We took the ferry to Manly today. I wasn’t feeling my best. It seems something that I ate yesterday was disagreeing with me. Manly was quite pleasant. It reminded me a bit of a small seaside town back home, only with nicer weather and less townies around.

We wandered around for a bit, then went for lunch in a restaurant in a hotel near the wharf. We got the ferry back to circular quay. The view from the bay was fantastic. This city really is beautiful.

Climbing the bridge

Andy and I did the bridge climb today. It wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be. I was dreading it at first, but I was pleasantly surprised. The view from the top was amazing. You could see the whole bay from up there, and the blue mountains in the distance. I can’t say I was too keen on the jumpsuits that they made us wear though. As you can see from the picture below, they weren’t very fetching.

In the evening we headed out to the suburbs to go to a bistro that does an outback tasting menu. Some of the food was interesting, but some of it didn’t do a lot for me. We tried crocodile, which was quite dry and not very nice. The yabbies were quite nice, a bit like lobster. I’m not sure that I’ll be eating kangaroo or emu again though. Overall the meal was very good, and the staff were very friendly.

Shopping

We started off today by heading over to JAL’s office to changed the date of our flight from Sydney to Tokyo. That way we get to spend a day in Tokyo on our way back to the UK. We spent pretty much the rest of the day shopping. The shopping centre in Sydney is like a maze. It’s just one shopping mall linked onto another, then another. I think we got lost several times.

In the evening we just went to the Thai restaurant next to our hotel. The food was very good, but the courses were huge though. This place reminds me of San Francisco a little, only with less whiny Californians around.

First day in Sydney

We started exploring Sydney today. Andy and I haven’t quite adjusted to Sydney time yet, so we were up early enough to see the sunrise over the bay.

We started off with a walk down to Wooloomooloo Bay and the Royal Botanic Gardens. Looking up into the trees we could see thousands of fruit bats. It freaked andy out a bit, mainly because he nearly got hit by bat poo a couple of times :-p

Walking on a bit further we could see Sydney Opera House and harbor bridge. It really is the the most incredible building. It does look a bit dated close up, which is not surprising considering it was built in the 60s and 70s, but still quite beautiful.

We had a wander around the opera house for a bit then went for a coffee. After that we went past Circular Quay and headed up to the rocks (where people first settled in Sydney). Unsurprisingly it felt very colonial, like how you imagine parts of New Orleans or Havana to look, with it’s little terraced houses with their balconies.

We headed to Darling Harbor for lunch and for a wander around Sydney aquarium. It was alright, but there were far too many parents around with little brats in tow.

In the evening we headed to Kings Cross for dinner. Not the nicest of areas (strip clubs, tramps, hookers etc), but there are some nice restaurants around the fringes. We went to one called Bayswater Brasserie. The food was delicious (and pretty reasonably priced too).