Trip to the South

Hi! Here is quick update on my visiting parents. I left you the previous week when we were in the Blue mountains. We had a good time there, but despite all of the effort we did not manage to see much wildlife. Kangaroos are apparently too lazy to hop up the mountains. Or maybe they booked a charter to Thailand as the weather was not that good, it coldest weekend so far. On the leaves of the trees here you can see that autumn is coming, but luckily the temperature is still above 20 degrees.

After we went of the Skyride (a kind of of ski lift) in Katoomba we went to Mount Victoria where we stayed in the oldest hotel of Australia: the Imperial. Or so they claim anyway. There is some very nice walking in Mount Victoria, but still no kangaroos, nor wombats, nor possums. On our way home we stopped at the Wentworth falls, which are pretty awesome.

On Monday I had to be at university again so we had to get back. But Friday we took off again to the south in a rented car (of the No Birds… company, strange name). We want to see some beaches, wildlife parks and maybe some more animals. Friday afternoon we finally saw the first kangaroo jumping across the road, which led to a lot of excitement and optimism about our expedition. But so far that’s the only one.

We did see a lot of birds (yes birds) though: Pelikans, Cockatoos (White, Black, Red, Green, Pink) Kookaburras and more of which I do not know the names. The beaches are also very nice and strangely empty. I’ll try to keep you posted on the animals. Bye!

Visiting parents

Aloha! How are you? Me, I am fine. My parents, Vincent and Rianne, have come to visit me. They arrived past Sundaynight from Kuala Lumpur at Sydney International Airport, where I picked them up and brought them to their hotel. I still have uni going on so on Monday and Tuesday we have gone for dinner and today we went to see the Blue Mountains. The trip in the train was alright and the hotel is okay. We are now staying at the Katoomba Mountain Lodge, which is not great, but okay. It looks a lot like a mountain lodge with a lot of wooden panels on the walls. After we arrived we went to see the Three Sisters and then for dinner at Niche Nosh, a great vegetarian restaurant.

Not really sure what we will do tomorrow as the weather predictions are not that good. I will let you know. Besides all that I have gotten my first Australian grades. 2 D's. I was not really sure what a D was but apperently it is good. D stands for distincion. Ratings go from Fail, to Pass, to Credit, to Distincition to Double Distinction. Or something. Hope to write more soon, now I am tired. Bye!

the Blue Mountains

Hi! Yesterday and today I have been to the Blue Mountains. I was a nice trip, good to get out of the city but I haven't found out why they are called the Blue mountains. Very few blue things about them. Me and my bicycle took the train to Katoomba, a cool name for a place, where the hostel was full, but I could still rent a hostel tent. So I did, see below.


Nice eh? When I got the tent sorted out I took my bike to check out the Blue Mountains. I took a trip along the cliff road from where you easily stop at several viewpoints. The views were really good, but I found the "three sisters" a bit of a disappointment: not as cool as the books say they would be. Next I went to Leura, where you can see some cascades, which was nice. After that I called it a day and went to my tent.

Today I went to see Evans Lookout in Blackheat. The view was similar, but there was a very nice walk that took me into the canyon where a kind of rainforest grows. The trip was about 2 hours with a lot of stairs but is was very very cool. After that I went on to Victoria Falls, where the landscape was much dryer and totally different, but still nice. When I got to the Victoria Falls lookout a sign said that the falls could not be seen from there, and seeing the falls would take another 4 hour walk. Slightly confused, I decided to go home.

The pictures will be on my Flickr account if you are interested. I am however not allowed to make any more sets, - until I upgrade my free account, which I might - so they are not in a tidy set. Yet. Sorry.