G'day mates

Aussies and Kiwis. This is a group of very laid back folks. And they really do use "mates" to address both males and females. I thought that might be something that Hollywood may have exploited but no, it is commonly used.   Mates Vialula and LeRoy have really enjoyed New Zealand and everything it offers and everything we did while there. But now it is off to Australia and our first stop is in Sydney. We had an overnight in Sydney and that is a good thing because it is a huge city and there is no way you could see even 10% of it in one day. It would be nice to come back here because we still didn't get to delve into it as much as we would have liked. When I say big, I mean 5,500,000 people. All of Australia only has about 25 million so as you can see, a lot of them are right here. Vialula and I did two tours, one on each day. They were as different as night and day. The first one was a trip outside of the city to a wildlife refuge, along with a trip to the Blue Mountains that is home to the Three Sisters. We also stopped into a quaint little village in order to have therapy....Retail therapy. Apparently the majority of the people on this trip are afflicted with some sort of disorder that only purchasing certain items found only in far off places can treat. I will admit that I, LeRoy, have undertaken a couple of therapy sessions in certain places and I can attest that all of my purchases have indeed made me feel better. More stuff please. I have no idea how half of what we have in our room will make it home.

Anyone ever heard of a didgeridoo? It's those long wooden instruments that the indigenous people play. It is mainly a ceremonial instrument and it is only supposed to be played by a man. Today, there are some women who do play it but it is frowned upon and it is never in a ceremony. I won't get into the political correctness stuff, but it is their custom so we should respect that. It is a wind instrument and can vary from a couple of feet long to 9 or 10 feet long. It can also range from a hundred dollars to a couple of thousand dollars. Guess which one LeRoy wants? No, I didn't purchase one .................. yet. I did get me a boomerang. It says it is guaranteed to come back to me. I was going to test out the guarantee on it, but I haven't quite got the nerve to go out on the back deck, toss it as hard as I can and wait to see it make a small splash into the sea. Do you know what you call a boomerang that doesn't come back to you? A stick.

Petting a wombat ... I think!

We are heading out to the Blue Mountains with a stop at an animal refuge park, Featherdale Wildlife Park that specializes in taking in injured animals. These are animals that once they are recovered could not survive in the wild.  The park is located in a surburb of Sydney, kind of like our zoo in Nashville. Now there are animals here that I have no idea what they are. Even with a sign saying "this is a wombat", I still don't know what it is. 

We saw koalas, several types of kangeroos, wombats, penquins, birds of all colors, sizes and shapes, goannas about 4 feet long. Some sort of prickly thing like a hedgehog, Tasmania devils, etc. Vialula and I got our picture taken with Duke, the fuzzy koala. Made Vi's day!  She is still smiling! We kind of lost track of time and were the last ones back on the bus. If looks could kill ....... these people obviously need their therapy on time. Just a side note. I think I heard our guide say that they estimate that there are over 40 million kangaroos in Australia. Also, did you know that Australia is the 6th largest country in the world? The US is the fifth and Australia is right behind us. It is big. So we will get to see 4 different cities here but we won't really scratch the surface. We aren't heading out into the outback. Biggest reason we aren't going there is that it is really hard to push the boat that far.

   

 

So on to the Blue Mountains. This is part of a mountain range. It gets its name from the blue haze that sometimes covers the range very similar to our Smoky Mountains at home. The haze is a product of the oil from the Eucalyptus trees that are indigenous to the area. A large rock formation is called the Three Sisters.

the Three Sisters formation

Every year tourists flock to stand in awe at the unusual rock formations carved from the cliffs at Echo Point in Katoomba. These three majestic rocks capture the sunlight and burst with color throughout the day, even when the sky floods with night the magical three sisters glitter gold against the velvet backdrop.

A Tale of Love

Yet it’s not only the wonder of the landscape that captures the hearts of many travellers who sojourn to the Blue Mountains but the story behind the three rocks that stand tall. The ancient aboriginal legend tells the tale of three sisters – ‘Meehni’, ‘Wimlah’ and Gunnedoo’. These three enchanting girls lived in the heart of the Jamison Valley as part of the Katoomba tribe. Yet the girls were young and their hearts were captured by three brothers from a neighbouring tribe. However the law of the land forbid the girls from following their desires and marrying outside their own people....

LeRoy knows how to copy paste....You can look it up if you want to read more.

After a wonderful lunch served with a local ale at the mountain side cafe we began our journey back toward Sydney. It was a great 9 hour tour. We saw a bit of the natural side of things today, and tomorrow we have a city tour with a tour of the Sydney Opera House. So more to come from us compliments of Sydney. Vialula threw some pictures in here of some of our new animal friends. Take care and talk to you soon.

LeRoy and Vi