You may well ask!!
It has been a busy week or so with trips to the City - looking at the old part called the Rocks, a day out on the beach at Bundeena, a visit to the Sydney Opera House to see a show and finally, the best part of all, a day out in the Blue Mountains.
Bundeena is a lovely part of the coast which can be approached either via a relatively lengthy drive by car, or you can just hop onto a ferry and enjoy the trip across to the white sands. Of course we opted for the ferry ride and enjoyed looking at the fabulous houses etc on the way. Just who are these people who earn enough to buy such fantastic places??? We are talking hundreds and hundreds of appartments and houses all costing 1,0000GBP or more.
Anyway, we had lunch over there - I had a very naughty but nice plate of nachos with guacamole, sour cream and lots of melted cheeses and then we walked along the white sands in front of gorgeous houses which look across the water to the main part of Sydney. There are such beautiful birds and flowers here too. I know everyone complains that they are noisy but I still think that the parakeets are stunning and love watching them.
I know that a place like this would be high on the consideration sheet when my brother comes to retire. It would be on mine too if I lived over this way!!!
This is the autumn here but the termperature is like a warm summer's day in UK. We have had some rain but in the last few days the weather has been really lovely and I have even contemplated having a swim in the pool in the garden!
As I said at the beginning, we visited an area of the city of Sydney called the Rocks. This area is the first part which was colonised and is full of history of the lives of the convicts and their families. It was a tough place and I am very much impressed by the lives they lived and the way they carved a society out of nothing.
Here is a picture of me, just to prove I was there! The weak pound that exists at present is really making life a little difficult. Coffee and a cake (small, nothing to write home about!) cost $18 (approx 12 GBP) so I have had to be a bit careful with my spending. Of course I have bought the odd thing or two but in general, I have had to be a lot more careful than I thought. Now is the time for anyone wanting a holiday in Europe from Australia to go! I stood for 20 minutes in a queue to change money the other day and 3 people changed about 7,000 GBP each so I can only assume they are all going to have a wonderful time in Europe!
Whilst at the Rocks, we visited a couple of Galleries and I came across a technique called Nuno. It is a technique which bonds felted fibres onto Silks and Georgettes etc and then garments, shawls, hats etc are made from the resulting outcomes. They were stunning and I shall be trying to find a workshop to learn how to make this fabric.
Finally, yesterday I drove my mum up to the Blue Mountains for the day. It takes about 2 hours and is very accessible from the city. What a stunning place! I can see me wanting to return for a holiday in the area, possibly bed and breakfast and lots of walking. I just loved it.
The bit which is hard to describe is the sheer vastness of the vista. The dense bush just goes on for miles and miles: thick conifer-type trees (Australian varieties of course!) which are so close together that it is as easy as anything to be lost and never found again!! And it does happen.
This is in an area close to a town called Leura. It is a very very pretty place and also boasts the best stationery shop I have ever been into - bar none! Unfortunately I could only look and admire. My purse did not stretch to buying anything but nevertheless it was very impressive!
This picture below is of a rock outcrop known as the 3 Sisters. Very impressing and awe-inspiring. The feeling you get
is that it is just at hand and you could reach out and touch it. But in reality it is a steep climb and not easily attained by the likes of me! I hope it gives some perspective of the vastness of the landscape........................and there is nothing - I mean NOTHING other than bush as far as the eye can see.
Our landscape is beautiful but different. We just don't have the scale of Australia.
I hope you have enjoyed these photos. I don't want to bore you all rigid. Nothing worse than other people's holidays if they go on and on about them!!!
Thanks for your comments. It has made me feel at home reading them!