Mountains and Men

12-31-05

Blue Mountains
For $105 AUD ($80 USD) we experienced the Blue Mountains in absolutely the best way possible. We considered driving to the mountains, but no one wanted to take charge of planning the day, so we thought a tour might be better. It was! Scott found a tour group that took us to all of the following places. We couldn’t have paid the admissions to the various things for the price that we paid for the entire day (including food).

First Stop - Wilderness Park – This is where you get to pet a Koala and a Kangaroo. Once I stopped feeling sorry for them, I enjoyed petting them. Their existence is a little sad. Since I spent a lot of time at the zoo, I wasn’t very interested in the other animals. The Kangaroos eat out of ice cream cones. Not sure why I think that’s so funny, but my kangaroo took the entire cup from me. Guess he wasn’t big on being fed by a human.

Tea – Boomerang – My first throw was good, the second, not so much. Not terribly much else to say, although we did get a good picture.

Walk – Waterless Waterfall and view of Blue Mountains. The Blue Mountains look similar to the Blue Ridge Mountains in NC. The waterfall would have been cool, but since the area is in the middle of the worst draught in 100 years, the waterfall was waterless.

Lunch – Golf Course – Lots of food… very good.
Steepest Cable Car – Wow! This was scary and incredibly fun. We rode on the steepest cable car ride in the world. Think straight down! Very fun.

Three Sisters Rocks – On the way down, we saw the three sisters, which are three rocks overlooking the valley. Rocks aren’t that exciting really.

Walk – Rainforest – This was my first rainforest. I enjoyed the walk, but rain might have made the forest more interesting. I was a little concerned it would just burst into flames from the heat.

Reverse Cable Car – This was kind of like riding a rollercoaster backwards, but scarier because you’re thousands of feet in the air. Very fun.

Leura shopping – Complete tourist trap

River Cat Return to Sydney – I figured out where the celebrities live. I picked out one for Nicole Kidman and another for Keith Urban. They were close together, but not too close so that they could have their own space if needed.

End Tour

New Year’s Eve dinner at Subway, which broke my not eating anything I could eat at home rule again

Bungalow 8 – I befriended a cute Brit turned Aussie for my midnight smooch. I figured out his name when he gave me his email address. I spent most of the night trying to figure out if it was Spencer. It was Ross, but different than Ross on Friends. Scott carried around an entire bottle of champagne and thought it was perfectly normal that he not share with anyone.