Our first few days in Sydney have been wonderful. We meandered through a lovely park that we assumed was the botanical gardens with fantastic view of the opera house and the harbour bridge, enjoying the variety of birds and trees... And then arrived at the gate of the real botanical gardens! We spent a few hours attempting to distinguish between the call of a bird and that of an Australian kid... Surprisingly similar ;)
Then we grabbed an over priced bite to eat by the wharf and walked around the magnificent Sydney Opera House. At 2:00, we watched a ballet called Patyegarang, based on the true story of an Aboriginal woman who taught a British scientist, Dawes, her language and culture. After the ballet we went to St Mary's to attend Mass. We weren't pro Catholics as we couldn't figure out the words to the songs, but it was a lovely service to watch.
The following morning, we took the ferry over to the Mitchell's where we had parked or rental car and drive out to the Blue Mountains. Our first stop was a hiking loop involving the National Pass trail, Wentworth falls, and a number of look outs. It was a phenomenal hike. Though the signs warned that the walk takes 4-5 hours, we found that it is actually closer to 3. We assumed that they over estimate the hiking times so that people don't get into trouble running out of daylight. It is one of the best hiking trails I have walked - it was carved in 1908 along the side of the mountain with steep rock steps that take you down under waterfalls and up over them. The views of the valley below are phenomenal and the orange rock of the cliffs curves above you. Near the waterfalls, everything was lush with a wide variety of trees. After the hike, we drive up the three sisters lookout. It was beautiful to see as the sun was setting.
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