grumeti peking

The lodge is on the rim to the ocean all rooms have a great view and at dusk the Wallaby is hopping in front of our window. Can there be more ? Yes, it can! The guided excursions do show us Kangaroos, almost 100, sea lions and more Wallaby’s. Last but not least amazing rock formations and bushes to the horizon. We love it. The 2 nights and days are going too fast and it is time to go back to Adelaide.

Tuesday we will board the Indian Pacific train to go to Sydney, 25hours ride. The chauffeur picks us up at the Hotel and gets us to the train station, where we are getting the red carpet treatment. That is included in the Platinum class which we choose because of the larger cabin. 7 qm !! including the bathroom !!! Just one piece of small luggage fits in the space beside the bed. I am curious how the Gold class looks like and I have a glimpse. Gosh, I am sure, there, one will not be able to take any luggage ! Small, smaller and last the red class, no bed at all.
We enjoy the vistas from our window and the dining carriage. Changing landscape, from the residential part to the dessert, Emu's and Kangaroos can be seen, then the dryness for hours. Good night, let's try to sleep. It was better then expected and the breakfast is good. We are already approaching the Blue Mountains, huge gum tree forest which have this special mist which seems to be blue. Hence the name. It is already time to pack and prepare for Sydney, our final destination. Again a chauffeur drives us to our friends place, where we will stay for the next few weeks.

Sydney, laid back and relaxed city with lots of tourists. We do the tourist sightseeing by taking the hop- on hop-off bus. This provides a first impression and allows us to decide what we like to see. Impressive the Ibis and parrots which seem to be everywhere in the city, not shy at all. Not so impressive the food. Maybe we have chosen the wrong ones or a pure tourist spot as it is expensive but tasteless. We need to find other places.
The Circular Quay is the number one tourist spot and easy to reach. A boat tour is a must and we do those in hot weather. Soon we have to buy more sun protection! Instead hubby buys a strawhat, Cowboy style! Yee haw. Interesting places are the Skytower, we have lunch in the revolving Restaurant and have a great view, buffet is okay. The Botanical garden, which we discovered by tourist train, it was just too hot to walk. The fishmarket, here it is worth to go and have lunch.
The Centennial Park, we stroll around and spent the whole day there. At dusk the flying foxes ( fruit bats ) are coming to life. There must be thousands hanging in the trees. A bit scary the thought they could attack us. No worries mate, all safe.

Of course, there are plenty of shopping opportunities, many malls and streets to see. The one I like is the Queen Victoria Building for its interior. The City can't decide what the weather should be like, one day fresh wind and thunderstorm, next over 32 degrees and no breeze at all. Happy to escape to the Blue Mountains for 3 days. Approx. 1000m high, a few degrees cooler and more fresh air. We love it.

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