Sandy's Sabbatical in Singapore: January 2017

G'day mate! We wanted to escape the HUGE crowds that come to see the fireworks celebration that happens in Sydney for New Year's Eve -- so we headed to the scenic Blue Mountains (about an hour northwest of Sydney in New South Wales) for our own ushering in of 2017! This area of Australia has dramatic scenery, areas for rock climbing, and plenty of hiking trails (called "bushwalking tracks" in Aussie lingo). We experienced high cliff views, deep canyons (that required ladders to ascend) and gorges, with waterfalls that had gushing cascades of water. We also saw fern grottos and tropical vegetation along with vast towering Eucalyptus forests and spent a wonderful week at a Werriberri lodge happily hiking everyday.

The Blue Mountains are named for a unique phenomenon where the oils in the leaves of the many Eucalyptus trees give off a fine mist which can be seen as a bluish haze on the horizon.

Our base camp for the week was a rustic cabin nestled within a grove of trees in the Megalong Valley near the small rural town of Katoomba.
In the mornings I would sit on the back porch enjoying the view of nature while hand sewing, listening to the calls of the cockatoos, and keeping a watchful eye out for 'Roos.

We did in fact see troops of Kangaroos very close to the cabin a number of times while we were there for the week-- once as many as six kangaroos were hanging out. They would not allow us to get too close, tolerating our presence always with at least one kangaroo upright -- keeping a watchful eye on us. Do you spot him looking at us while the rest of the group are feeding? We watched this group of 'roos at sunset.

Some of the forest on the 180 acre property where our cabin was located had been deliberately backburned by the government within the last few months to clear out old underbrush. This process helps lessen the severity of potentially catastrophic bushfires. In the photo you can see how the green foliage is making a comeback from the last burn.

Our first bushwalk was the Grand Canyon Track. As you can see in the photos this area had a lot more forest and lush vegetation than its big brother namesake in Arizona.

View from the top of the trail.

The trail at the bottom of the canyon had a lot of tropical vegetation and was fairly wet.

We had our lunch here under the sheltering overhang.

This small pool was next to our lunch spot so I decided to test the water temperature--Yup, it was COLD.

On another day we decided to trek the Wentworth Pass track in the Valley of the Waters. If you like natural waterfalls this hike was spectacular & YES, we did brave the COLD water to go for a swim in the pool at the base of the waterfall.

Oh my! Water, water everywhere!

Isn't this a great swimming hole? The best part was that we had the pool to ourselves.

Then, we decided to take a "hard" trek--- a 5 hour bushwalk on the Golden Stairs Track which involved a lot of climbing, sometimes on ladders bolted to vertical cliff faces. Troy and I went all the way out on the Pulpit Rock -- glad there was a handrail there!!

The trek to the Ruined Castle was strenuous and was capped by doing a little bit of free climbing up a rocky pinnacle. We decided to have lunch here while taking in the sweeping views.

Not only did we have a great birds eye view of Jamison Valley, but also of the native birds called Pied Currawong, perched in a nearby tree.

Banksia flower

Eastern Water Skink

Here are a few other local flora and fauna we encountered during our various bushwalks.

Eastern Water Dragon

Edchina - spiny anteater

We were lucky and had really nice weather on our various bushwalks except for one afternoon when the rain clouds moved through with showers for about 2 hours. The woods turned very misty and mysterious.

While the kids did a serious rock climb (with equipment & ropes), I couldn't watch -- so Tony and I took a long walk as the late afternoon sun was casting a soft golden glow over this scenic valley.

We bid you G'day from the Blue Mountains of Australia. We were sad to be leaving but also very glad we had come and seen so many new sights and met some special people!!

Iconic view of the Sydney Harbor Bridge and the Opera House

From Melbourne we flew next to Sydney in New South Wales, the largest city in Australia. What comes to mind when you think of Sydney -- the Opera House, of course. And it did not disappoint with its unique soaring sails architecture. We walked through the large Royal Botanic Gardens, a sweeping green expanse in the center of the city, to get to the harbor front where the opera house is located.

The Sydney Opera House was designed by Jørn Utzon, an architect from Denmark. Construction was begun in 1959 but encountered many delays and cost over runs before finally opening for performances in 1973. The architect, who had quit the project in disgust partway through the construction over political interference, never actually saw his finished work in person before he died in 2008.

Even though the grand arching white sail structures look white from a distance, closer inspection reveals that they are in fact made up of over a million small textured tiles--sort of like a quilt that has a lot of small pieces that make one overall grand design.

The Sydney Opera House was listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2007.

We took a harbor ferry from the Circular Quay to get a better sense of the city layout, see the sights, and enjoy a glorious day on the water. Along the way we saw:

Replica of Captain James Cook's HMB Endeavour

Modern city skyline from the harbor

World's largest steel arch bridge

People climbing the bridge (with safety harnesses), after paying a hefty fee

Also in Sydney, we enjoyed viewing an art exhibition at the Public Library of New South Wales entitled PLANTING DREAMS. I thought of Opa and his love of a garden!

In Hyde Park, we stopped to reflect at the pool in front of the ANZAC War Memorial and then went to the Art Museum to see an Australian aboriginal collection. This was my favorite stop as I was so inspired to design a quilt pattern from some of this work. Although, as you can see, this piece of art was bigger than a quilt would be--but I loved the earthy tonal colors.


A collection of Aboriginal spears

Wall art showing various cultural motifs

I was so engrossed in the display that I stayed till closing time

This piece of art even seemed to have "large stitch" quilting on it!

We also took a long hike along the shores of Sydney harbor to Watsons Bay.

Yes, the water IS cold, even though it is summertime in December!!!

Next we drove along the coast to a world famous surfing spot called Bondi Beach. During the winter waves here can reach spectacular heights-- just like in Hawai'i (and I wondered if Lindsay's nephew, Kirk, had ever surfed here?)