Goodbye Sydney, Hello Blue Mountains

On March 18th, after celebrating St. Patrick's Day with a brew or two in Paddy's Market, we picked up our rental car and headed to the hills. In this case, they are called the Blue Mountains, which aren't really mountains, nor hills, but eroded tablelands. They get their "blue" moniker by virtue of the oils given off by the dominant eucalyptus trees which appear as a blue haze. Some of the blue haze is also caused by bushfires and coal-fired electrical stations, but it is more politically correct to credit the eucalypts.

First though, allow me to share the excitement of driving on the left side of the road. Every time I turn on the signal lights, the windshield wipers come on! Is that cool or what? Those Aussies and their sense of humour! They also look pretty funny when a Canadian approaches them head on in their own driving lane! What a laugh! I only did it twice though - don't want to wear our welcome for all the Canucks yet to come. There are other drivers like me. Yesterday afternoon I noticed another bloke signaling with his wipers - a dead giveaway that you are from North America!

We are driving a Mazda Tiida. I didn't recognize it either.

You may recognize this though. Not exactly Alberta's Castle Mountain (formerly known as Mt. Eisenhower), but at least you can look down on it. Near Katoomba, the "Three Sisters" is illuminated at night. The lights attract insects, which attract bats, so it's a really good place to watch bats at night too. Note the blue haze in the distance, caused, of course, by the oils given off by the many eucalyptus trees.

This morning, we departed Katoomba for a tour of the caves at Jenolan. Now these are really impressive caves. Too many stalactites and stalagmites to count. This particular photos shows a cavern room perhaps 20 meters in height with a variety of cave formations. Those spelunkers amongst you will recognize many. These particular caves are thought to be a couple hundred million years old, although I think the electric lighting is a more recent development. All in all, a good experience.

This last little beauty pictured above is a "flat white". Ordering coffee in Australia is a bit more complicated than saying "double double to go". Here, most cafes make you choose between a long black, a short black, a cappuccino, a cafe latte, a macchiato, mocha, and of course, a flat white (coffee with some milk and frothy stuff on top). If you want sugar with your flat white, you add it yourself later. You'll note the flat white even comes with a little heart.... awwwwh.

Matt, if you are reading this, order one of each and put it on your dad's Visa card. Each one will set you back about AUD4.00. Call it "educational expenses for comparative cultural investigations".

Speaking of Matt, we were thinking of him as we left Sydney. We know you didn't come all the way to Oz to visit with your Auntie and Uncle, so hope your mum booked you into one of those backpacker hostels in King's Cross. There are lots of people your age there.

Speaking of wildlife, we've not seen any live kangaroos yet, but a few dead ones along the road, so we know they are about. We've also seen some wombat and red fox roadkill. Looking forward to actually seeing some live ones.....

Tomorrow, we are off to the Hunter Valley, the center of Australia's wine growing district. Apparently there are lots of wine tasting tours to be had, and with luck, we may see some pink elephants too! After that it's Port Macquarrie, (if you're following along), Coffs Harbour, and then Surfer's Paradise. Cheers!