Eastern Australia Trip. Day 2 : Sydney

Taking a picture with Kat.

On the second day, we joined the Blue Mountains tour with Anderson. It was all-inclusive small group tour that we didn't have to worry about the entrance tickets as well as the lunch meal. Everything has been taken care by Kat, our friendly and knowledgeable on everything about Aussie. She was very attentive to each of us and always had something to share during our journey to the Blue Mountains.

As our lodge was located on the outskirts, we woke up early in the morning just to have enough time to be at the pickup point by 7 am. We stopped at the Wynyard metro station and walked for about half a kilometer to the Four Seasons Hotel. The Circular Quay station should be nearer to the pickup point, but then the station was closed for reasons that we were not aware of. WI just relied on Google Maps' suggestion. The shuttle picked us up in front of the hotel around 7:20 am, nonetheless. TThe journey to Scenic World took almost two hours. In between, Kat did a brief stop at the Glenbrook.

Halfway stopped to the Blue Mountains

Scenic World, located in Katoomba, is one of the attractions in the Blue Mountains. It's home to the famous skyway, cableway, and railway, as well as the walkway through the rain forest. We first rode the Scenic Skyway that glided between cliff tops and provided the best views of Katoomba Falls, the Three Sisters, and Jamison Valley. There was a glass-bottom view in the middle section that raised up to give a superb view of the panoramic valley. And the most thrilling encounter happened when we rode the steepest passenger railway at a 52-degree incline. Once we hopped on, we switched the carriage to the 'cliffhanger' ride to add more adventure to the ride. It was really an amazing experience! Yes, there is also the 'laid back' option available.

(Left) The glass-bottom view in the Skyway (Right) The Orphan Rock

WWe rode the steepest incline railway in the world! yeaahhh

We disembarked at the bottom station and continued to walk through the Scenic Walkway. It was a 2.4 km stroll through the ancient rain forest on the elevated boardwalk. Keep your eyes and ears on the natural lyrebirds!

(Left) Old funicular railway (Right) Direction to the ancient rainforest

Part of the mountain used to be a coal mining site

A steam-powered furnace used to transfer the coals

After about half an hour of walking through the ancient forest, we descended into the Jamison Valley on the Cableway. That provided us a unique vantage point for viewing the Three Sisters and Orphan Rock.

Sedimentary rocks formation can be seen in these listed UNESCO heritage mountains 

The Cableway was the last rides we hoped in at Scenic World

I've tried to search on the internet; what sort of thing is this?

A clock powered by steam depicts the history of coal mining in the Jamison Valley.

We then moved on to the next lookout, Katoomba. Apart from viewing the Three Sisters Rock from the Scenic World, the Echo Point offers a clearer view of it. This was the tourist gateway to learn about the aboriginal place that existed in the land of the Darug people. While the Visitor Information Center provided enough of the information, we watched the live performance of the Waradah aboriginal tribe. We learned about the smoking ceremony and the tribe dance (they called it Corroboree) and easily got acquainted with their didgeridoo performances.

The best lookout of the Jamison Valley; fret not, it's difficult to get a good photo spot

Kedumba and Goodomba are the ways to spell Katoomba.

The Three Sister Rock views from the Echo Point Lookout

Taking pictures with the Waradah Aboriginal Tribe

We took pictures in front of the Waradah Aboriginal Cultural Center while waiting for our shuttle to arrive. 

There was a fire-burning in some part of Blue Mountain back in January

Kat told us that this stop is not on the list if we join the larger coach tour

Can you identify the boar's head?

After lunch at one of the golf clubs in Leura, we stopped at another lookout, which couldn't be reached by typical large buses. Yet we captured another postcard view of the Blue Mountains before we headed back to the city.

Nu'man ordered a sumptuous desert after lunch

It was an old hotel turned into a cafe.

Don't you dare do that!

I can feel the air breeze!

The flowers as smooth as silk

Halfway back to the city center, we were given about an hour at a popular jaunt, the Featherdale Wildlife Park. One thing that was in our mind was to get the chance to cuddle with the koalas. We've been looking for which place is the best to have the experience with such cute animals. Glad that the Anderson's Blue Mountain tour includes the stop at this wildlife park. There was another option, Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary in Brisbane, but we couldn't get any closer to the other types, like dingoes, bilbies, wombats, and many others, in this park!

Some of the animals were wild encounters, like this joey!

Pelik kan?

Nu'man was looking around for the stamping station

It's the feeding time for the penguins

We spotted the spotted-tail quoll.

Oink! Oink!

Thought we could cuddle the koala? No?

Nice bilby...

Now we know...

Nu'man manage to collect all the stamps

The arrangement was to get into the Paramatta River cruise back to the city. But since we still had plenty of time, Kat drove us to the Olympic stadium area. Even though she just passed by the area, we could feel the vibrancy and excitement of the events. Once we arrived at the jetty, the ferry was there, and that's the last point that Kat was with us. The cruise took us to the Harbour Bridge and passed through the Balmain area and Cockatoo Island. We even had the chance to soak up the incredible, iconic architecture of the area, as well as the vibrant lights of Luna Park.

A quite large ferry with two enclosed decks

The upper deck was an open space without benches.

But the best thing is that you can have a splendid view, like this Balmain area!

A gigantic cruiser parked just beside the Harbour Bridge

You have options to disembark either at Darling Harbour or Circular Quay. We chose the latter, as we wanted to get a closer view of the most iconic Sydney, the Opera House. But the crowd pulled us away, so we just headed back to the hotel, saving the opera for tomorrow.

Jalan-jalan kat Circular Quay, ternampak plak Ayam brand