Return to Sydney

LUCY

I’m pleased to report that the luggage key for the Indian Pacific was eventually found and once we were reunited with our luggage the search for finding a hostel for a night begun. It then ended shortly afterwards as our first stop, the Railway Square YHA (as the name suggests, located right next to the station)  had a couple of nights availability. So we settled in, enjoying a 5-bed dorm all to ourselves, and had a think about what we do over our last few weeks.

Whilst reaquainting ourselves with Darling Harbour we popped into the Tourist Info centre for a few ideas and Alex spotted information about the tall ship, “James Craig”. Originally from Sunderland, England, she had a long and busy working life before being abandoned in Tasmania in 1932. After sitting there for forty years, she was rescued and lovingly restored by the Sydney Heritage Fleet. It took 20 years and lots of labour (mostly from volunteers) but she is now in magnificent working order and is the only ship of her kind to regularly make trips out to the ocean. As Alex has wanted to travel on such a ship for quite some time now it seemed a most fitting activity, and what a ship to experience going under the Harbour bridge in. We only did a day sail but you could get involved as much, or as little, as you liked and they provided lunch and drinks for the day. Alex was available to help with anything and I believe he was told to be careful as if he carried on being so helpful he might end up on the crew! I helped out every now and again, mostly heaving on the ropes to move the sails. At one point when I went to offer a hand, the captain of the James Craig tapped me on the shoulder and asked my name. He then told the guys already on the ropes who I was and that I was here to sort them out, hehe. Well, I’m not sure it was my sorting but together we got the sails where they needed to be. Very satisfying. The weather was beautiful throughout the day and added to it being thoroughly enjoyable, however I have got a bit ahead of myself as we sailed the James Craig on Saturday 10th but I’ve neglected to tell you what we did on Friday 9th.

During the day on Friday 9th we met up with another familiar face, Toby, who we had first met in Airlie Beach was in Sydney for just the one day before catching his flight home. We had moved to a hostel across the road (no availability at the YHA over the weekend) which has a cafe at the front so there we were sitting enjoying our breakfast. I had sent a text to Toby to see where he was when just a short time later he appeared right next to us. We then proceeded to spend the rest of the day moseying around Sydney city, slurping on Slurpees and on the hunt for cuddly Australian animals (no not literally, the stuffed toy counterparts). As evening began to set in we parted ways, Toby was meeting up with another friend and Alex and I had a date with a bridge.

We ended up actually having to rush a bit between leaving Toby and getting to the BridgeClimb in time as it took longer to walk back from the Circular Quay area than we remembered – but fear not, we arrived at the bridge with just enough time to peruse the gift shop! Climbing the Bridge was an unforgettable experience that we both felt was well worth it. The harnesses and jumpsuits, in addition to the industrial surroundings, made it all quite different and exciting. Though we couldn’t take our cameras up (due to potential murder by falling camera), we still had a beautiful picture to remember it by.

We had a couple of weeks in the Sydney area so there was plenty of time to check out another nearby must-see: Katoomba and the Blue Mountains.

Katoomba

ALEX

Blue Mountains YHA was our home for the next week. A comfy hostel with a nice atmosphere, it was a pleasant place from which we were able to walk to most of the hot spots. Echo Point and the area’s famous Three Sisters stone formation were our first visits. The grandeur of the view from Echo Point is hard to convey, but I fell in love with the place immediately. On a later walk, we descended the cliffs into the dim and cool valley below, from which we caught spectacular views of Katoomba Falls and explored numerous nooks and lookouts. At the bottom was the Katoomba Scenic Railway, reputedly the steepest railway in the world. We caught a ride up to the top as we were in need of loos and somehow the steamroller of commercialism had not ventured so far as to put toilets at the bottom of a ravine.

But it wasn’t all cliffs and mountains; we also checked out the renowned Blue Mountains Chocolate company for a stunning hot chocolate. A device holds the milk in a metal cup with a candle below it applying heat, while you mix in chocolate drops to your taste. Finally, we had a contender for Best Australian Hot Chocolate to beat the Quantas in-flight offering on the A380 to Sydney (yes, that remains Lucy’s #2)!

Nearby in Leura, we visited the Everglades historic home and landscaped gardens. Few places have felt so inspiring and I wished I could come and sit here every day to write. Incredible mountain views yet with civilisation in arm’s reach, gorgeous but unfussy landscaping and a fascinating art deco 1930s house: I could hardly have designed a better dream house myself, though I will say several such designs did spark from this!

Perhaps one of the most unique experiences we had in the area was the hack into the mountains. Given that this was my third time on a horse in recent memory, I got in plenty of cantering and uphill scrambles to keep things interesting. I will kinda miss being able to just turn up and ride a horse back in the UK, where the dominion of Health and Safety demands you walk around in circles on a donkey for three weeks before you can be trusted to sit on a horse without falling off. Riding horses isn’t actually that hard; at least, not so long as you’ve got a shred of common sense and your ambitions for success consist of staying in the saddle. Needless to say it was another great ride and I look forward to doing it again someday.

We didn’t stay all that long in the Katoomba area but it proved to be well worth the visit.