Sydney Day Trip - Blue Mountains

After spending the first week in Sydney's hustle & buzzle, we decided to venture our way out of the city and into the Blue Mountains. Blue Mountains is about 2 hour drive west of Sydney.This area of New South Wales is well worth a visit as you get a different perspective of the australian wilderness. And so there we were back out on the highway driving on the left side of the road. 

The Blue Mountains is a range of sandstone escarpments, canyons, rivers, rock formations and waterfalls kind of like our Grand Canyon.However the sandstone canyons in Blue mountains are all covered by a thick carpet of eucalyptus scrubs creating bluish hue, I guess hence the name Blue Mountains.


The main attraction is the Three Sisters which are primarily three large rock formations overlooking the immense valley. After seeing the main attraction we decided to take a walk around to the other side of the blue mountains. Just kept following the trail with steep steps leading us deep into the forest. Walking round we got so see some other great views of forest and Katoomba falls .

The Three Ladies

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Bondi Beach, Sydney

Bondi Beach is probably the most famous beach in Australia. Its crowded, pretentious and very touristy, not necessarily the best beach that you might have been to, but it still should be on your bucket list when visiting Australia. Since everyone has a different take on what makes Bondi Beach so unique, it's definitely a once in a lifetime experience to check out.

That said, Bondi is the nearest ocean beach to Sydney, located around five miles from the city center, and easily accessible by bus.It is a nice rocky beach with pretty coves and I really like how there is somewhat of a lifestyle surrounding the beach which I'm sure attracts a lot of people to the beach in the first place. There's markets, cafe and restaurants nearby to keep you occupied when you're not near or in the water. The shops along the boardwalk are nice. There is also an outdoor saltwater pools that were right on the beach

The best part of Bondi Beach is the nice coastal walk along the ocean cliff. The 3.5 mile cliff walk leading from Bondi beach, up and over the rocky headland to Coogee Beach is amazing and very picturesque!  It was a great way to check out the coast.This walk gives you a perfect feel for the coastal and beach area around Sydney as well as the typical neighborhood.here are stairs to climb and some slight hills, but  The walk is not too demanding.The walk has plenty of stairs and hills to give you an excellent work out. At any time of day there is always people getting their daily fix of sea air and exercise. This is a must if you visit Bondi and surrounds.

 

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Visiting Down Under – Sydney

I was lucky enough to take a 10-day vacation to Sydney, Australia. My flight from San Francisco down to Sydney was a travel highlight in itself. I had the window seat on the upper deck of a B747. As we came into Sydney around 6am, I got a birds-eye view of Sydney Harbour and it’s two famous sites the Harbour Bridge and Sydney Opera House.

Exploring the city by foot in my first choice. Since this is the first time I was visiting Sydney,I spent the first few days just staying in the downtown area and just walking the area around the Opera House, Botancial Gardens, Circular Quay and the Darling Harbor.  All the major attractions are within walking distances among each other - the botanical gardens, Opera House, Harbour Bridge, Circular Quay, Sydney Harbour . Being in a foreign city generally means I walk for miles and miles. I didn't use any public transportation...just walked, and walked, and walked.

There are many restaurants around Circular Quay and you can catch ferry to other parts of Sydney from here. The amount of shoreline in Sydney is quite large, and taking ferry to places little outside Sydney seemed to be the norm.

When I was walking around the ferry terminal in circular quay, there was some aboriginal music and performance. Everyone seemed quite excited to watch.

The next day I visited the Bondi Beach. You can read about it here.

Outside Sydney, we took a day trip to the Blue Mountains. You can read about it here.

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