Trip to Blue Mountains

Friday:

Laura and I got up early to go to Blue Mountains. The van driver picked us up at 7:15 and we took a scenic ride to Sydney to pick up some other passengers. We had a bus driver named Mel and there were people on our tour from Canada, Germany, Holland, France, Viet Nam and New Mexico. The ride to Blue mountains took about two hours and we stopped a couple times for some beautiful views. When we got to Blue Mountains we took a tram that goes at 52 degrees (it is very steep) down the canyon. The tram was first used by coal miners and there are lots of caves in the mountains. We took a walk to see a waterfall and saw some cockatiels and cockatoo. We stopped for lunch in the town of Leura where Laura had Pasta with Pesto and I had a salad. It was good and we were hungry after all the walking and sight seeing. On the way back we stopped at a clearing where we saw three kangaroos munching grass. Scientific fact: the difference between wallabies and kangaroos are Kankaroos back bones go all the way down to their tails. They can balance on their tails, which makes them good boxers but they can only go forward. They can't jump sideways or back like Wallabies. After the tour the bus let us off at the ferry and we went back to Circular quay in Sydney. There was a night marked at the Rocks so week took a short walk around and bought some Macademia nuts for a snack. We're going to two markets on Saturday with Tony.

We got on the Ferry to Manly and Tony met us there and we went out for dinner at the Manly Italian Restaurant. Tony had lasagne, Laura had veal with mangos and I had fettucine Alfredo but it didn't have a white sauce like at home. They gave us huge portions so I had to get a doggy bag. If Stella was here I would give her some.