Day 26: To Sydney! First stop the Rocks.

We're 4 days behind in the blog. Too busy seeing people in Sydney. Here's the 1st of the 4.......

The rain is hammering down in the am and we need to be out of the rental by 11am. We are just out on time. The cleaner pulls up bang on 11. Initially not sure of our plans but the weather decides for us. It's misty, murky and cloudy and not a lot of scenery to be seen so we decide to head to Sydney. Again, the sun shone when we needed it too and we feel a bit smug as we see all the tour buses heading in the opposite direction to 'not' see the sights of the Blue Mountains. Sat Nav is set and declares will be at The Rocks (Sydney) by 12.40 :)

Only 40 minutes in, Rob in need of a coffee so we stop off at the McCafe for a cup much to the delight of the kids. Rob has been suffering wifi withdrawal symptoms since we got to the Blue Mountains and the face book/email junky needs his fix! The kids are so excited to be in McDonalds or Maccas as they like to call it so we indulge in some cakes and an extra shot in the coffees for the grownups. It's a bit sad how much we've seen of Ronald this holiday but the free wifi is a bonus as most of the hotels have charged about 5 dollars an hour. We eventually start nearing Sydney after 1pm. I am doing things the old fashioned way and looking at a minuscule map in the guidebook. Saint Sat Nav finally blots her copy book by completely losing the plot and bringing us over the harbour Bridge when we didn't need to but it's quite cool to see it anyway. It just went crazy, spinning the map around and jumping our position from street to street. Sky is cloudy but it's dry.







We navigate the old fashioned way and back we go over the bridge and make our own way until the satnav starts to behave itself. Finding somewhere to park is interesting. We duck in to one place and it's 62 dollars for just over 3 hours, swift exit! Lucky for us it's a public holiday and not too busy and we find more reasonable parking for 4.40 for 2 hours :)

We have a wander about and pitch ourselves at Circular Quay and catch our first glimpse of the Opera house. it's a bit grey so we decide we'll do the tour on the water another day. There is a massive cruise ship in and the place is buzzing.












Grab some street snacks, Sarah eats her corn with gusto, so good, refuses to give Mummy a taste.





As car parking ticket about to expire, we decide to make our way to our Sydney home, we are crashing with Sarah and Axel and family in Kellyville. We have no idea how long it'll take. Back over Harbour bridge again and in no time at all we get to KV just after 430. Whoops we are way too early, quick diversion to a local park and Tom and Sarah stretch their legs and the sun briefly shines. Next stop the bottle shop for beer and wine and then on to Sarah's.

Both Sarah and Axel haven't changed one bit, last time we met Alana was Sarah's age and Finn was just a tiny baby. Within minutes, Sarah(little) is in awe of Alana and starts trailing her. Then Sarah(little) finds the drum kit and gives her all, the din is incredible and maybe the Armstrongs are regretting having us ;) A drum kit was on the Christmas list so maybe there is one in Marlow...Rob and I get a taste of what we are in for. Tom has a go too. (Note to self, hide drum sticks before going to bed!) Sarah is not too bad and is giving her rock version of Jingle Bells.

After a fab home cooked meal (so good for us after all the rubbish we've been eating), we stay up late drinking too much and reminiscing over our Brighton days. And yes I remembered to hide the sticks.





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Day 25: Boxing/St.Stephens Day, Blue Mountains

Sarah up at stupid o' clock, it is chucking it down and I think well at least its get the rain over with while I try and settle her back, sounds a right racket as it's a tin roof. By 10am it's still pouring so perfect excuse for a lazy morning. Guilt creeps in as the sun makes an appearance soon after and we manage to get out by 1130. We should have been up and out regardless of the weather as our plan is to visit some caves.

It's about 60km drive to the Jenolan Caves from Blackheath. I decide that I don't what to play petrol roulette again and we fill up enroute. Its a pleasant drive to the caves and we end up on the opposite side of the cliffs where we are staying. Barely in the car as Tom starts his wail of "I'm hungry" but I have little sympathy as I had been nagging him to eat more for breakfast. It gets really windy towards the end and the cries of "feel sick" come from the back, but Rob is having too much fun. The NSW police are out in force and we see some cars pulled over for speeding. The sat Nav chirps all the time when a speed camera is coming up....though the two back seat drivers give Rob constant reminders of what the speed limit is. The last section of the road is one-way between 11.45 and 13.15 so we have it to ourselves. The entrance for the car is via a cave and it looks very impressive from the start.



We hadn't done much research on the caves as the wifi is broken at the rental house, there is a bewildering choice of tours available and we eventually settle on a 1.5 hour tour of the Lucen(?). It's said to be strenuous with 951 steps so hope I won't end up carrying Sarah.

Time for lunch, which is a bit ropey but Tom wolfs his fish (even the batter) so at least the person most likely of whinging about food is fed;)

The tour itself is very good though straightaway I fell over 'helping' Sarah down the steps, luckily the ground is soft, though my cream trousers look a mess as I fell on my back. Felt like a right idiot (it was funny though! /Rob)

Cathedral cave. This was really impressive, concerts are held down here on a regular basis, the tour guide played a recording and the various lights came out showing different features. Shame that people kept snapping with their flashes while this part was going on. I am amazed what people will try and take pictures of.

















































This is where the guide told Sarah the tooth fairy lived.





Broken column


On the drive back to Blackheath, Tom talks about his future as a house builder, they are all going to have wind mills and solar panels. A farmer is going to give him the land to build his houses and his house will be the nicest. He hasn't quite worked out how he's going to finance his operation. At some point we started talking about bosses. We asked Sarah what would be the one thing she would tell everyone to do if she was the boss of the world. Her answer, "clean it." (maybe that hippy commune had more influence than we thought).

We stop or should I say drive speedily through Hartley historic village...hmmm not exactly a lot there, just a few old sandstone buildings, it gets a write up in Lonely Planet but I couldn't see anything overly special about it.

The sun is shining again as we head back. We sit through the Christmas Doctor Who but reception is a bit rubbish, you can see the bad weather coming in over the valley, pink forked lightning and the heavens open. We can hardly hear the TV though Dr Who is making even less sense than usual, if that's possible.



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Day 24: Christmas!

First off - Merry Christmas everybody!!!

Tom was up about 5.30 we think, listening to the TV radio, waiting for the TV to start, but he was good and hadn't opened any of the presents yet. Rob checked on him about 20 to 6, then stumbled back to bed for another hour. We're all up for 7. Santa has come and left a few little presents. He had also written a note to say that the big presents are in Marlow. Tom thought Santa had very neat hand writing but Santa forgot to put in any sweets. The day is beautiful and sunny and we can appreciate the view from the living room and bedroom windows more. Rob lounged in bed drinking coffee looking down at the valley with the moon setting. After a lazy breakfast that seems to go on for hours, we are out in the car at 10.30ish for some touring. It doesn't feel too much like Christmas as I am not tidying up rain forests of wrapping paper. Santa left a selection of deadly animals and we both have to spend the morning feigning fear when we step on a croc, snake, tarantula etc.

We hit Echo Point in Katoomba to see the Three Sisters. We thought we'd have the place to ourselves but there are still a lot of tour buses about. A lot of the tourists are Asian. It's the busiest we have seen a tourist spot since the 12 Apostles but still plenty of room. First impression as we look down on the Jamison Valley is that it reminds me a little of the Grand Canyon with trees, its massive!











We took the walk down to the Three Sisters and got as far as the middle one, steps were steep so we didn't venture further down as thought might be too much for Sarah. Tom is becoming quite the walker and always keen to go a bit further.















In the shade the kids take off their hats and they're having a bad hair day..



Child number 2 starts demanding lunch. We are a bit limited in dining options so Tom has a Chocolate muffin and Sarah a chocolate doughnut. Not very healthy but hey it's Christmas and we are opting for the easy life today. (Cocopops for breakfast too!)

After lunch, we brave Scenic World to see the Jamison Valley from different angles. My head starts to hurt from looking at all the various ticket options so we just get an unlimited ticket as it's just 1pm thinking that we will have plenty of time for numerous rides.

It's the worlds steepest railway much to the delight of Tom and Sarah (Indiana Jones music is played on the way down and Sarah is humming it for the rest of the afternoon).










On the bottom, we take a mini diversion to see the Katoomba Falls but they dont look too impressive from this vantage point. we walk along the board walk and see more rainforest ( seen quite a bit this holiday!)... and there is some information about the coal mining that occurred in the 1890s to mid 1930s.






(Lots of grownups were getting their picture taken on the horse, whats that about ??!) Sarah and Tom were patiently waiting their turn but we had to butt in eventually.







Next ascent is via the cable car, lots of up!


Next a long wait in the queue for the Skywalk. Unfortunately a lady in the queue beside us collapses with a seizure and it's scary to watch it unfold. Her husband looked like he knew what he was doing and everyone in the queue stood passively by, including us. However staff are on the scene pretty quick and an ambulance is called. Think we were a bit in shock as we were shepherded onto the Skywalk. This time we got to see the Katoomba Falls up close.








Quick return on the Skywalk and we queue up..but people keep ignoring the queue. Tom was most put out and talked loudly as to why people weren't waiting their turn and that he would write a sign!!

By now grownups are getting a bit tired and need of some Christmas cheer (i.e booze). Quick ice-cream for the kids and we make one final stop to Govetts Leap before hitting our pad. Govetts Leap is peaceful and calm and the scenery stunning. A quick walk to see the Horseshoe Waterfall (Tom would have walked more...) and back for our alternative Xmas dinner.




It's absolutely baking, about 30 degrees, don't think we will be lighting that fire tonight ;)

Tom and Sarah end up having red pesto with pasta and melon to start. Steak and homemade chips for the grownups but it's so warm, we are not very hungry anyway. The freezer isn't working that well so the ice-cream is a bit mushy.

While Rob nips out to get a picture of the sunset, Tom and Sarah hit the jacuuzzi bath and have to be coaxed out after an hour, think I put too much soap in it! Bubbles were everywhere.













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Location:Blue Mountains