Blue Day

It was a case of breakfast in the Hunter Valley, lunch in the Blue Mountains and dinner in the shadow of Sydney Opera House. All sounds very grand, but truth be told the breakfast was pretty basic and rushed, lunch was half a sandwich and a banana and dinner was a fish supper! This was all in contrast to dinner last night when I had one of the finest steaks ever while Mrs B had a rack of lamb to die for and yes, of course, they were washed down with a nice bottle of local Shiraz!

After breakfast we travelled through the Wollemi nad Yengo National Parks, which were beautiful with lots of twisty wee sections and hairpin bends the Swiss would be proud of. Even saw a Kookaburra sitting on a tree at the side of the road. The weather was gorgeous with wall to wall sunshine and bright blue skies.

It was lunchtime by the time we reached Springwood and the start of the Blue Mountains. As we had to return the hire car to Sydney by 4 o'clock, we were struggling for time but determined to see the mountains. We pushed on and grabbed something for a picnic in Hazelbrook before continuing west on the main highway. The area we were going through was not what we expected. The road was just a series of major roadworks next to the unsightly overhead cables for the railway. Our Rough Guide book advised us to get onto one of the side roads leading to a viewpoint and that's exactly what we did. By good fortune we ended up at Flat Rock close to the Wentworth Falls. What a contrast in just a few hundred yards. We were about 600 metres up and the rocky outcrop looked over what I can best describe as a wooded and smaller version of the Grand Canyon. To get an idea of the size of Flat Rock, go large and see the young lads sitting on the edge of it.

By the time we had eaten lunch we had less than 2 hours to get into Sydney with the car. However, the road was clear and we made good time, that was until we hit the city centre where everything ground to a halt. The clock was ticking and the traffic was grinding slowly. A couple of wrong turns and I have to confess the air turned blue (without a mountain in sigh!). Trying to find our hotel, a garage to fuel the car and the car rental offices was, lets just say, an intense and interesting experience! Never mind we had the car back just before five and were only an hour late.

Our hotel is in the Rocks area of the city and a 10 minute walk from the ferries and Opera House. As we headed out to get something to eat it was obvious we were in the throbbing business centre of the city. Workers from offices filled the bars and streets in their smart suits (minus jackets and ties) and the atmosphere was quite different from Brisbane or other areas of Oz we had visited.

There was no better way to end this blue day than by sitting in an outdoor restaurant in the shadow of the Opera House looking over to the Harbour Bridge. This has to be one of the best views from a restaurant anywhere in the World!

The bridge and Opera House were duly blipped, but I somehow preferred the shot of the Rocks area with the blue reflections on the water and stainless steel handrail.

With lots to explore in Sydney tomorrow an early night is called for!