Australia Southern Highlands Waterfalls – Sat., Nov. 10

Kangaroo Valley, Southern Highlands, NSW, Australia.

Today was cool, cloudy, breezy—perfect for waterfall hiking in national parks. Our trip so far has been wonderful. We are learning new words, new animals, new birds, new flora, and new (to us) way of driving on the left-hand-side of the road. Bob has not let me drive yet, so I haven’t experienced the disorientation of watching for oncoming cars on the right-hand side of the road.

Since the air was rather cool when we left our unit, we took our warm coats with us, especially since we would be high up in the mountains. Good call as it got quite chilly.

Fitzroy Falls in Morton National Park, being the national park closest to us, drew us in with its promise of a very high waterfall coming off the escarpment. Cost to enter was $3 for parking and could be used at other national parks in the same day.

Fitzroy Falls, Morton National Park

Talking with the ranger at the visitor center, I asked her about funnel web spiders and what they look like. Funnel web spiders are very poisonous. She had a plastic replica of this spider. It looks like a smallish tarantula with a medium red line radiating out each of its legs. The ranger said, “Don’t pick it up.” (No worries, mate, I HATE spiders in any size, shape or configuration.)

The ranger was helpful. I gave her my list of waterfalls we wanted to hike to. She pulled out a map and marked the scenic route for us to follow to see all of them except one, which was farther to the south.

Bob was antsy to hike, so we hit the track (trail) to see Fitzroy Falls and the West Rim Walk which overlooked the falls and Kangaroo Valley. The first wildlife we saw was a lyrebird, scratching in the leaves for food. Fitzroy Falls had water flowing over it, but the wind was blowing so hard, the waterfalls was going sideways.

 

The track is well maintained and easy to follow. Next, our hike took us to Twin Falls Overlook (no water in the falls), and then back to the Visitor Centre.

No falls--must not have been enough rain.

On one part of the trail, I happened to snap a photo of the track and an Australian King Parrot flew right into my frame. Good timing.

Male Australian king parrot flew into my photo!

The Visitor Centre had displays of Australian animals: squirrel glider, echidna, wombat, ringtail possum, and gray-headed flying fox (looks like a big bat).

From Fitzroy Falls, we took Tourist Route #2 on very lightly traveled back roads through beautiful, lush, green farmland. The sealed (paved) road ended and we were on an unsealed (gravel) road going through forest (bush). We even drove through a creek! Luckily the water level was low. We were headed to Belmore Falls and a valley overlook. Belmore Falls is a two-tier waterfall which was lovely.

Lush, green countryside.

We drove through this creek...

...to get to Belmore Falls.

Here's part of the trail.



Belmore Falls. Bob wanted to swim in the pool.

Wildflowers are in bloom right now. Here are a couple of different types:

 

 

 

 

We continued our exploration in the town of Robertson. We found The Old Cheese Factory and Café where we had lunch. Bob had a grilled chicken sandwich and I had linguine with mushrooms, spinach and sun-dried tomatoes.

The park ranger at Morton N.P. recommended we take time to walk at Robertson Nature Reserve. On the way into town we looked for it where she indicated on the map, but couldn’t find it. At the restaurant we asked locals where the Reserve was, but two different people couldn’t tell us. One thing we’ve found in the U.S., as well as here, is that many times locals don’t know where interesting features are in their own towns.

After lunch we set out to look for the reserve and guess what? We stumbled onto it on the first side street we took. We’re glad we found it. The Reserve preserves part of the rainforest that used to cover much of this area. We were fascinated by the vines that twisted around looking like thick ropes.

 

While we were on the track through the reserve, I felt I was being watched. When I looked out into the forest, looking back at me was a wallaby! It stood stock still as if we couldn’t see it. I snapped a photo. Love those nature moments.

Toward the end of the walk, Bob pointed out a big hole in the ground which he thinks is a wombat den. The reserve took 15 minutes to walk, a nice leg stretcher (as if we hadn’t had enough of those already today).

Next, we drove to Carrington Falls on the Kangaroo River in Budderoo National Park, parked, and hiked to the falls, going up and down on metal grate stairs and through the forest to see a tall, very graceful waterfall.

The hike to Carrington Falls.

Carrington Falls.

Then, since it was just down the road, we went to Nellies Glen. A natural spring upriver creates a natural swimming hole complete with waterfalls. Bob would have loved to be there on a hot summer day to swim.

Bob at Nellies Glen

The afternoon was wearing on and we wanted to make it to Minnamurra Rainforest with its rainforest boardwalk and trail to Minnamurra Falls. We arrived at 3:00 p.m. and found we had to start the hike to the falls by 4:00 p.m. and the exit gate would be locked at 5:00 p.m. To get to the falls track, we had to walk the rainforest boardwalk (1.6 km total, but the falls track veered off about three-quarters of the way around the rainforest boardwalk).

Minnamurra Rainforest in Budderoo National Park is quite the engineering feat. Many of the trails are elevated metal walkways. Throw in a couple of suspension bridges and metal staircases and you have a sophisticated trail system. We don't mind paying user fees to keep the infrastructure strong.

 

Love the patterns of plant and rock.

Beautiful patterns in the rocks.

We reached the Minnamurra Falls trail. From that point it was 4.6 km roundtrip on a very steep trail up to the falls. I moaned and complained going up the hill, thinking we weren’t going to make it in time. Bob was sure we could. Next time I’m listening to him. Not only did we make it in time, we rested going up the hill, watched lyrebirds scratching for food in the leaves, and had time at the top to enjoy the waterfall before heading down.

Upper Minnamurra Falls.

Check out the roots on this tree!

On our hike down the hill, we saw momma and baby lyrebird. The mother bird scratched in the leaves for bugs and when she found one, she ran to her youngster on the trail and fed it. The young bird was big enough that it was learning to scratch in the leaves too. Another great nature moment. We felt blessed to see so many lyrebirds in one day. Who knows, maybe they’re as prevalent as chickens on the island of Kauai and we’ll be seeing them all over the place!

Let's play Find the Female Lyrebird!

 

Male lyrebird.

For the past two days, my feet and shins hurt. Today, my thighs hurt. My muscle rehabilitation continues and what better way to do it than hiking in exotic locales.

We finished up our hiking in Minnamurra Rainforest with plenty of time to spare.

Looking up into the canopy.

Since it was before 5:00 p.m., Bob wanted to drive to the coast. I told him that was fine, but we would have to go back to the coast for me to take photos because the battery in my camera needed recharging.

Our route took us into the beautiful coastal town of Kiama where we drove straight out to Blowhole Point and the lighthouse. Weather was mixed clouds and sun, very windy with a stormy sea. The blowhole was blasting away shooting water up through the blowhole about 20-30’ in the air. The sun was just right and rainbows formed in the mist. Oh for a charged camera battery!

The return route we chose was Highway 48 through Macquarie Pass National Park. This was a very quick route back to our timeshare.

When we got back, Bob made grilled cheese sandwiches which we ate with our left-over garden salad from last night.

Tonight an informative nature show was on TV about Australian animals we don’t know much about: echidnas, wombats, numbats, water possums, honey possums and kangaroos.

While I’m writing my blog, Bob is watching Daniel Craig as James Bond in “Casino Royale.” I watched the opening sequence with him as it endeared me to Daniel Craig when he first appeared as James Bond.

This was a wonderful day that exceeded any expectations we had. Let’s see what tomorrow holds.

We want to spend one or two days in Canberra, the Capital of Australia; however Prince Charles and Duchess Camilla were there today and we’re not sure if they’ll still be there tomorrow. We may spend the day exploring the coast in this area. The park ranger told us Jervis Bay is a beautiful part of the coast. Looks like more exploration is in order!

Travel Bug out.

Roos and Emus, New South Wales, Australia – Fri., Nov. 9

'Roos and emus.

We packed up, ate breakfast, then Bob walked to the downtown Hertz to pick up our car. I sat in the Y Hotel with our luggage.

Bob braved downtown Sydney traffic driving on the left-hand side of the road! He found his way back to the hotel where we loaded the luggage and set out on our adventure. Hertz gave us directions to get on the Expressway toward the airport which would take us out of town. We missed the turn and ended up driving around a completely different neighborhood, Kings Cross. We finally found our way back to where we were supposed to turn and made the turn this time.

The Expressway is a tunnel that goes for miles under downtown Sydney. The Expressway took us to Hwy 5 and that turned into Hwy 31 which took us to our Bowral (pronounced bear-o) exit. EXCEPT we decided to turn off the road and explore a little town called Picton. We stopped to look at a viaduct arch bridge and walked across a wooden bridge to a park where there was some history of a swimming hole that used to be in the river, but nothing about the beautiful stone bridge.

Picton is a cute small town with a lawn bowling club, a park with garden, and something called the mushroom tunnel. We didn’t stop, but it sounded intriguing.  We couldn’t find the turn-off for it as there was no sign.

From Picton, we took Scenic Rd #12 south through the countryside and made a stop at Wirrimbirra Flora and Fauna Sanctuary, incorporating Bargo Dingo Sanctuary. The Sanctuary is free, but they ask for a $1 donation per person to walk through the animal enclosure.

When we walked through the gate, we were in the midst of wallabies, including momma and baby. We walked a bit farther on the path and we saw what looked like mule deer lying under a tree. Being from the Pacific Northwest, we’re used to seeing lots of deer, so that’s immediately where my animal-identification brain went. However, they were kangaroos! Upon our approach, they stood up and eyeballed us. They’re very curious. After watching us for a few minutes, they hopped off to consult with the emus about these intruders. (See first photo above.)

Wallaby mom and little one (hiding behind her).

Kangaroos.

Continuing on the path, we came to the wombat enclosure. I searched and searched for a wombat, but didn’t see one. I even looked in all the areas that were dug out along the fence. I saw what looked like a grey concrete pipe in the ground, but no wombat.

The bird enclosures were next. As we walked up to the cockatoo cage, one of the cockatoos came immediately over to the cage gate, climbed up the chain link door and said, “Hello.” Impressed? You bet we were. An outgoing cockatoo! We talked to it for a while. When we walked away we heard, “Good-bye.” Cute bird.



Sulphur-crested cockatoo.



The next bird enclosure had six types of birds in it including a tawny frogmouth which we did not see. The least afraid birds were the Superb Parrots.

Superb parrot.

After walking through the enclosure, we walked over and talked to the people who ran the place. One of the ladies asked me if I’d like to see and feed the possums. I said, “Sure.” I was surprised to see the darling possums they have in Australia. They certainly don’t look like our U.S. opossums which look like big rats. The Australian possums come in two kinds: brush-tailed and ring-tailed. We saw the brush-tailed variety. The pictures may convince you that they’re better looking than North American ‘possums.

Brush-tailed possum.

Mmmmm...peach!

As we prepared to leave, the workers at the sanctuary asked if saw the wombat. I told them, “No, but I was really hoping to because I had never seen one.” They told us that earlier it had been sleeping at the fence line. I said I looked but hadn’t seen it. (Of course I didn’t really know what I was looking for.) They decided they’d help us look for it, took pity on us I guess. Our guide brought an apple and we headed for the wombat fence line. Our guide stops and looks down into the trench I saw and says, “There he is.” The wombat was what I thought was a pipe! I had no clue wombats were so big. It was about the size of a pig, only gray—the same color as concrete. He told us this wombat was only half size, said we wouldn’t want to hit one driving down the road. I learned a new animal today.

Sleeping wombat--didn't even wake up when a chunk of apple hit his head.

The Dingo Sanctuary was not open yet, but we were told that if the sun shines just right, you can see through the privacy fence they have up. Dingoes are very noisy! We got to hear them yipping and screeching a couple of times while we were there.

As we drove by, not only could we see them through the privacy fence, but I was able to hold my camera up over the privacy fence and snap a photo of a beautiful dingo.

Dingo.

We continued our drive south on Scenic Drive #12 and hooked up with Hwy 31 which we followed to our Bowral exit. I was happy to see that Australian highways have Rest Areas.

For lunch, we stopped in Mittagong and chose a restaurant called Kebabs. Bob had a falafel and I opted for their chicken snack pack. Bob enjoyed his way more than I did my meal.

Onward to Bowral and our timeshare, Accord’s Grand Mercure Bowral. We found it without too much fuss. We drove past it, but we were on the right road. The problem was their sign was very low profile…in fact the timeshare name was covered by plants. We had to call their office and ask for directions.

 

Bowral, New South Wales, Australia

Our first week timeshare.

We checked in, relaxed a little, found out internet access costs $50 for 72 hours or 1,000 MB, whichever comes first. BUT when you use more than 250 MB, they slow down your internet connection,  something about a “Fair Play Rule.” With all the photos I post (even resized), I would use that up pretty quickly. And Bob needs to use the computer too! We will be looking for the McDonald’s in town. Hopefully they offer free wifi!

In Australia, Woolworth’s is a large grocery store. Bowral has one and that’s where we shopped to stock up on supplies for cooking in the timeshare. Tonight for dinner, I made broiled salmon, mashed yams, steamed broccoli and a large salad. We figure that the money spent (for the week) at the grocery store will save us a lot of money that would have been spent at a restaurant in one day. We will buy more fish for dinners, but we found two servings of salmon for $10.99 ($5.50 each serving) which is way cheaper than a restaurant sells them.

We love Australia and we’ve only been here four days! Can’t wait to see what the rest of the trip brings.

Prince Charles and Duchess Camilla are in Sydney today. They went to the Opera House, the Contemporary Art Museum and some other sights around town. Big thunderstorms rolled in putting a damper on some of the festivities. The Australians love their royals! The news showed the crowds lining the streets to cheer for the Prince and Duchess and at the venues where the Prince showed up. We’re glad it was today and not yesterday or we would have been in the midst of all the brouhaha.

In one of my future posts, I will try to remember to put in some of the headlines about the U.S. presidential elections. The newspapers here are very clever.

Time for bed. Tomorrow we’ll be up early, eat breakfast in our room and then head out for waterfall hiking at national parks.

It’s so weird...When I booked Bowral, I booked it because it’s between Sydney and Canberra, so I thought we could sightsee easily in both those cities. What I didn’t realize is that there are multiple waterfalls to hike to in this area (not to be confused with Waterfall Way up north where we will be next week.)

Plus the town of Bowral is famous for Corbett Garden. I will go to the gardens while Bob visits the Cricket Museum. It’s springtime here and rhododendrons are in full bloom.

I keep trying not to write so much but I also want to document our trip and not forget what we saw and did.

All for now. Travel Bug out.

Opera House, Manly, and The Rocks – Thurs., Nov. 8

No denying it. I am out of shape after taking it easy for five weeks! After all the walking we did yesterday, my feet and shins are protesting. Today was another long day.

[Note: We have not had free wi-fi for a number of days, so I will be posting quite a few blogs all at once.]

After breaky (breakfast) we took the Sydney free bus, #555, from our hotel to Circular Quay. We walked to Sydney Opera House to see it up close and personal. It was cool to see the Opera House from different perspectives. The detail on the roof is beautiful. See pics below.

Sydney Opera House

Opera House roof tiles.

From the Opera House, we walked back to Circular Quay and bought Manly Ferry $14 return (return=roundtrip) tickets. The ferry ride is ½-hour port to port from downtown Sydney to Manly. It was lovely being out on the water looking back at downtown, the Harbour Bridge, neighborhoods on the shore and, as we approached Manly, the cliffs at the North Head entrance to the harbor.

City Centre, Sydney, Australia.

Once in Manly, we walked across the street from the ferry terminal to The Corso, a three-block-long area with shops and eateries which is on the way to Freshwater Beach.

Freshwater Beach is a surfing reserve. Surfers were out catching the waves up and down the beach. It was lunch time so we strolled along South Steyne looking for a promising restaurant.

Freshwater Beach, Manly, Australia

We ended up on a side street at Café Brisa. Bob ordered a fish burger and I had the fish and chips lunch special. Just because I’m a curious kind of girl, I had to ask the waitress what Balmain Bugs were. It was listed on the menu. I had no clue, except I guessed it must be some kind of seafood.

 

When the waitress came over to take our order, I asked what Balmain Bugs are. She explained they’re small lobsters. So I’m wondering if they are really lobsters or if they’re what we call crayfish. I didn’t order them so I don’t know for sure. By the way, the fish and chips were excellent, Bob’s fish sandwich not so much (different kind of fish).

Time to walk off lunch on a hike to Cabbage Tree Bay Aquatic Reserve, Shelly Beach and Sydney Harbour National Park. Cabbage Tree Aquatic Bay Reserve has a paved path along the bay to Shelly Beach. At the beginning of the path is a sign that says, “Protect our Water Dragons.” Water dragons? What are those? The trail to Shelly Beach is known for artwork along the trail, some of it quite whimsical. I captured the art for you in the photos below, along with a photo of a water dragon...they seem to be quite prevalent in the area. [Note: due to limited internet access, I am only posting one photo of art along the trail.]

 

Type of penguin that nests on Bowen Island.

Water dragon.

Another sign shows to keep left on the path. [As an aside, I have noted in Hawaii and on trails in other places in the U.S. that oncoming hikers have tried to walk uphill on the same side we’re walking down. I’ve often wondered if those hikers were from countries where people drive on the left-side of the road. This sign pretty much answered that. Now, in addition to learning to drive on the left-side of the road we also must learn to walk on the left side of the trail! A totally different experience for Americans who have grown up driving on the right and walking on the right-hand side of a sidewalk or trail.]

From Shelly Beach we continued walking/hiking up and over a headland on the Blue Fish Track in Sydney Harbour National Park. It was hot and humid with no shade on the trail. We saw a gun pit (military battery). We thought we would continue on the trail over to Spring Cove, but with the heat and my aching feet, we turned down Blue Fish Drive and walked back into Manly. Along the road were signs warning us to slow down for endangered bandicoots. Unfortunately, we did not see any bandicoots today.

Back in Manly, we opted for treats before we boarded the ferry. I chose a chocolate cherry cake with the most wonderful cream filling and chocolate ganache decorations on top. Mmmmmm, melted in my mouth. Bob opted for two-scoop gelato in a waffle cone which he enjoyed in the heat of the day.

A nice, relaxing, non-walking, ½-hour ferry ride (with lightning storm) to Sydney was followed by more walking to Royal Botanic Garden. The Government House was closed for the day but I photographed it.

Government House.

Then the rain started: sprinkles at first, picking up strength, then insisting we must pay attention to Mother Nature. Out came the umbrella which I remembered to pack today. Also, out came a rainbow over the botanic garden. The rainstorm lasted ten minutes and then we were back to sunshine and clouds.

Rainbow over Royal Botanic Garden.

The botanic garden was more like an arboretum, with trees labeled with name, genus, history and uses. There were quite a few ficus trees of different varieties, all of them BIG. Gardens included an herb garden, rose garden, rare and threatened plants, succulents, fernery, begonias, camellias, tropical centre, rainforest walk, and oriental garden. Because we wanted to make it to The Rocks free walking tour at 6:00 p.m., we only saw part of the Royal Botanic Garden.

A quick walk over to Cadman’s Cottage put us into the walking tour of The Rocks 15 minutes before start time. Russ, one of the founders of I’m Free Walking Tours, was our guide. He took us through the Suez Canal (Suez is a play on the word sewer, which is what this alley was when The Rocks area was settled), on back walkways, alleys, cobblestone streets, a cliff walk and up Observation Hill. Throughout the 1.5 hour walk, Russ recounted stories of Sydney and The Rocks history starting with Captain Bligh and ending with the Scots trying to settle Observatory Hill. We recommend this free tour. The guides only ask that you give what you think it’s worth at the end of the tour. You could give nothing but these tours are so interesting you want to give something.

Our guide, Russ, leading tour of The Rocks.

Observatory Hill at sunset.

Dinner was next on the list, but the free bus stopped running at 9:00 p.m. on Thursday nights. I wanted to ride it back to our hotel (and rest my feet and legs), then find dinner in our area.

Once we returned to our hotel and changed clothes, we WALKED three blocks to find dinner. But it was worth it. We ended up at a vegan restaurant. Bob had a vegetarian pie with black beans and all kinds of other good stuff which he can’t remember today (Friday). I had vegetarian lasagna that was out-of-this-world good. It was gluten free with very soft lasagna noodles, mashed sweet potatoes, some kind of wilted greens and other mysterious ingredients that all together felt like velvet in my mouth.

By the time we returned to the room, I was ready to fall into bed. I sat down at the computer and kept falling asleep. I’ll tell you what, I am sleeping very well on this trip!

Tomorrow we are off to Bowral (65 mi. southwest of Sydney in the Southern Highlands) for our first timeshare week.

 

Travel Bug out.

Evening: Rethink Plan -- Wed., Nov. 7

The temperature today was a balmy 76 degrees with 73% humidity. Weather was overcast with a prediction for 30% chance of rain or thunderstorms. All we received during the day were a few welcome sprinkles.

After a whole day of walking, we hobbled back to the hotel, decided to rest for an hour then head back up to Circular Quay to do a 1.5 hour evening walk around "The Rocks" area of Sydney.

I should never have sat down! As soon as I stood up all my leg and butt muscles protested. It's been a long time since I've done much physical activity and I think I am rebuilding muscle. Ouch.

We rested for an hour and a half. I changed my shoes from comfy walking shoes to something a little more stylish and put on a nicer top because we would be walking in an area known for its nightlife. Off we went.

I didn't take a coat or umbrella because it had been so balmy when we went to our room. Oops. When we walked out the door of the hotel, it was sprinkling with a nice breeze. First whack on the side of the head: it might get cold. We kept walking to make the 6:00 p.m. walking tour.

The rain picked up in intensity. At this point we were about halfway to the start point. We tried to walk under awnings to stay out of the rain. I told Bob, "Walking 1.5 hours in this rain would not be pleasant. I do not want to be wet with the wind blowing on us. We could just go eat dinner and take this tour tomorrow night."

Second whack on the side of the head: We haven't had dinner yet, we walked all day and I'm hungry!

The rain fell harder. People around us had umbrellas and raincoats.

Abort 1.5 hour walk, find restaurant. Sydney is a cosmopolitan city with MANY exotic food choices. We opted for Lees Malaysian on Hunter St.

Functional decor, nothing fancy.

Huinan chicken with chili sauce, rice, and chicken broth.

Gado gado--skewered chicken, veggies, peanut sauce.

No rain after dinner, but too late for guided walk. We meandered back to our hotel, stopping for photos along the way. Both of us are thoroughly enjoying Sydney.

Supreme Court of New South Wales

Supreme Court of New South Wales

 Hyde Park sights. (Hyde Park is across the street from our hotel.)

St. Mary's Cathedral.

Beautiful blooms of unknown plant.

 

Jacaranda tree blooms.

The Labours and Beauty of Pioneering Mankind statue.

Unique bloom on a tree.

Trunk of tree with bloom in previous photo.

Fountain in garden with St. Marys Cathedral in background.

About this time of the evening, the biggest "bats" I've ever seen were flying about. (Bob showed me a photo of a gray headed flying fox which also looks like a bat. So I'm not sure what we saw at dusk.) Try as I might, I could not get a photo of said "bat." They were just too fast.


Australian Museum. This place looks huge!

Statue of Captain Cook.

Captain Cook "Established this Territory in 1770. Killed at Owyhee 1779." Owyhee = Hawaii.

ANZAC War Memorial. (ANZAC = Australia/New Zealand Army Corps.)

From here, we crossed the street, went to a convenience store and bought a few toiletries and snacks. Then we headed back to the hotel. I immediately removed my nicer shoes and put on Skechers Shape Ups flip flops to soothe my weary feet.

Interesting factoid: 80% of Australia's animals and birds are found nowhere else in the world. It's no wonder I don't know what kind of birds, trees, flowers and animals I've been seeing. Luckily, through the internet, I have been able to identify the birds we saw today.

So ends our first day in Australia.

Travel Bug worn out. You must be too after the two-part blog!