May 8th: Disappointment Day #2

May 08, 2024

Day 35 (Day 10 in Australia)

The plan today was to visit as many scenic views, waterfalls and short walks as possible in the Blue Mountains before setting off on the 2 hour journey to Sydney.

Many were within a 15 minute drive from our overnight stay in Blackheath. The weather, once again (as in Franz Josef about three weeks ago) had other ideas. There was light rain, which we could cope with, but there was also very thick low cloud preventing any views at all.

First stop was Cahill’s Lookout. This was it…

… and this is what it should’ve look like (Jim Bowen voice, “Let’s have a look at what you could’ve won”)…

We drove on to Katoomba, the heart of the Blue Mountains and had the same result at Three Sisters Lookout. No point in taking a photo. The gift shop decided to call it a day at 1;30 which was a big clue things were not likely to improve.

Undaunted, we agreed to turn the situation to our advantage and use the time hunting for gifts for our grandchildren. I seem to recall there are about a dozen of them. There were fewer out-and-out souvenir shops here than anywhere in the UK. In fact, there are none that were aimed solely at us tourists.

It started well. Julie insisted on looking in a hat shop. Twenty minutes later we emerged and I was the proud owner of a new hat. Made in Strailya! But no corks. It was a late birthday present from her to make up for the Heli-Hike in Franz Josef, New Zealand, that didn’t happen about three weeks ago on Disappointment Day #1.

We did manage to get several gifts for family but still quite a way to go. It’s a case of assessing weight x size x delicacy x treating them all the same, etc. I can’t go into details here as some of them might read this!

Adjoining Katoomba is Leura where we not only found two more ideal gifts but also saw this chap outside a bakery.

Cockatoos are as common here as pigeons* but a lot nicer to look at.

Main Street, “Leura Mall”, Leura, NSW

The rain was getting heavier so we decided to cut our losses and head for Sydney at 3pm. A few miles down the road and we hit traffic. Our SatNav proudly announced, “there is an accident on the road ahead”. Sure enough there was. Two very mangled cars, 1 police car and 1 ambulance reduced the 2 lanes each way to 1 narrow lane. Aussies have ‘rubber-neckers’ too we learned. Our day didn’t seem quite so bad after all.

Arriving in Sydney in rush hour was interesting. Actually it was good because the slower speed gave me time to read all the signage and to be certain which lane to be in.

In the final 30 minutes, Apple Music (which has been playing the same huge playlist on shuffle on my phone since Apr 10th) excelled itself. Our final three songs today were:

‘Shine On You Crazy Diamond (Parts 1-5)’ from Pink Floyd’s ‘Wish You Were Here’ (Sept 1975). My favourite Floyd album.
‘Because’ from ‘The Beatles Anthology’ (1996). The a capella version. I think I prefer it to the Abbey Road one.
‘Good Vibrations’ from The Beach Boys ‘Smiley Smile’ album (1967). A very underrated LP.

Parking isn’t cheap in Sydney and we’re here for 3 nights. Luckily, smarty-pants here booked a hotel with free (but limited) underground secure parking. When we got here though it was a bit of a shock. We were on the fourth level down (of four) with only room for about ten cars on each level.

Worse still, the turns were incredibly tight and narrow. If Carolyn’s car (Toyota Kluger) was an inch longer we wouldn’t have made it. I’ve no idea how we’ll get it out on Saturday! Maybe I’ll suggest it is Julie’s turn to drive!!

Our room is huge, on the fourth floor overlooking Hyde Park! Earlier we had driven on the A32 to get here

We decided to have dinner in the hotel which proved to be a good plan. I had barramundi for the first time. Nice, especially with a Pinot Grigio.

I enjoyed chatting to our Portuguese waiter about Premier League football. He said it was the best league in the world so it’s not just English fans who say that. I taught him a lot about AFC Bournemouth and I think he is now a fan. He has learned to say, “Up The Cherries!” and promised to use it with any future English tourists! Result!!

The final downer on the day, though, is that we have two full days here and the weather forecast is not looking good. Fingers crossed that the Aussies are as good at forecasting as their English counterparts.

Onwards and upwards!

* Aussies call pigeons “bin chickens”. I like that and will be attempting to introduce it back home.