Sydney - Canberra - Katoomba
Take a night train and win some time we thought, but that was not the case. On Friday evening, we boarded the train from Melbourne to Sydney, hoping to arrive early the next morning. After a night of trying to sleep in all sorts of awkward positions, we woke up disoriented, wondering where we were. Seeing no sign of Sydney, we began to suspect something had gone wrong. Sure enough, the train had been delayed by two hours overnight due to technical issues with another train. We finally arrived in Sydney three hours late, with sore butts and rumbling stomachs. Thankfully, Sydney welcomed us with a range of breakfast places. Apparently, they love a good breakfast as much as we do!
A mix of modern skyscrapers, historic buildings, and green vibrant parks makes Sydney a fascinating and cosy city to explore on foot. We visited the cathedral, botanical gardens, Town Hall, and the Australian Museum.
On Sunday we went to a local market, which had the Christmas edition that day. It was our first time experiencing a Christmas market in summer, pretty weird but nice. Later, we got to see the two iconic landmarks of Sydney, the Opera House and the Harbour Bridge. To be honest we were a little disappointed by the Opera House. Don’t get us wrong the Opera House is an impressive building but because of all the fuss about it, we kind of expected more. The inside is wonderful but we didn’t bother getting in. The Harbour Bridge on the other hand, exceeded our expectations with its massive scale. And after a nice walk through the royal gardens, we were able to get them both in one view. The Christmas feeling gets stronger in the evening when all the lights on the building in front of the town hall and in the trees start flickering. Some street artists playing live music to make it complete.
Sydney shares a similar vibe with Melbourne. In both cities, there are a lot of giant malls, an overflow of Christmas decorations and clearly a strong wedding vibe. In less than two weeks we saw eight weddings! Crazy right?
To get away from the wedding vibe, because Arnaud already started to worry, we went to Canberra, the capital of Australia. Our journey took us along the Grand Pacific Drive, offering stunning ocean views. On the way, we also passed Kiama’s big blowhole. A larger version of the one we saw previously and impressive to see the water splashing meters high.
Even though local people warned us Canberra is a boring city, stubborn as we are, we still went and quite enjoyed it. Canberra is not the same as Melbourne or Sydney, primarily because it’s a planned city. The result of a long discussion on making Sydney or Melbourne the capital of Australia. While walking and driving through the city or viewing the city on a map you notice it. We visited the mint factory and war memorial to make our stay a bit more interesting.
At the Mint, we learned about the fascinating history of Australian currency. Because Australia has an intense history of explorers visiting from different countries they ended up with different coins. They eventually got to a system where someone estimated the value of each different coin, but a better system was needed for sure. Throughout the years they changed two more times, to the British imperial system with the pound and afterwards to the decimal system in 1963, which is the dollar they are still using today. In the mint factory, the complete history was nicely displayed together with the process of going from metal to actual coin. We didn’t think that so much effort and time was spent on a single design.
Next, we went to the War Memorial. I know, every country has a war museum but this one stood out from the ones we’ve visited elsewhere. Everything was beautifully displayed and explained. We were interested in the contributions of Australia in the Vietnamese war, but also learned that they fought in the first war. Having spent more time in the museum than foreseen we got something to eat and started driving towards the Blue Mountains. Taking a highway we needed to follow for over 200 km and no traffic jams along the way, can you imagine?
Our final destination in Australia was Katoomba in the Blue Mountains, a region west of Sydney known for its stunning views and hiking trails. Searching for a good hike we noticed that most hikes are one way, to a specific viewpoint. We chose a strenuous circular walk around the Three Sisters, a trio of impressive red rock formations. Even though we knew there was a possibility that it was partly closed, we decided to do the walk. Let’s say we learned our lesson. If the Australians say it’s not possible to get through, then it really isn’t. Nearly halfway we needed to go back because the path was destroyed by a landslide some time ago. Nevertheless, we enjoyed a magnificent view we never saw before. The mountains have cliffs that show dark red rocks and green nature on top. The valley at the bottom of the cliffs is covered with trees which makes it look kind of fluffy.
Once back at our starting point, the Three Sisters, we went to take a closer look. And to our surprise, again some wedding vibes! The bridge to the Three Sisters is called the Honeymoon Bridge. Unfortunately, it wasn’t allowed to cross it anymore. But we have a picture!
The next day it was time to explore more of this region with a one-way hike. We started quiet earlier in de morning to avoid the rain they predicted in the afternoon. So for the first hour, we walked in the clouds and couldn’t see anything. On the positive side, it wasn’t too hot and we didn’t need to worry about burning. After a few hours of walking, going down some steep, slippery pads and over some rocks, we arrived at the top of the waterfall. We can’t explain how amazing it felt to stand there, just the two of us. We put our feet in the natural infinity pool to cool them down and relax. With our feet recovered, we explored a canyon for a bit and started our way back to the top of the mountain. Hoping to see a cool cave a few km further away, we took a side trail. To our disappointment, the trail was not right and we didn’t see the cave. Broken and sunburned we went back to our hostel, but we could look back at the amazing photos we took.
The bad weather made us take some calm days in the Hostel. Luckily we stayed at a charming hostel that looks and feels like a home. Many different people are staying here so it was nice to get to know a few. One of the guests needed to leave without being able to finish a puzzle. That was the start of a teambuilding activity with all the present guests, this puzzle had to be finished! And yes we finished it! Mostly because of the determined German guy. As a celebration of our victory, he shared some German beers with us. The smoked bacon-flavoured beer, however, tasted as odd as it sounds.
As our time in Australia came to an end, we couldn’t leave without witnessing one last sunrise! No better place than in the Blue Mountains! We left at 5:20 AM for a viewpoint and witnessed again a stunning sunrise. The reflection of the sun on the rock made them turn bright red. A short walk further we saw two falls, with tons of water falling for hundreds of meters. Thanks to the rain the past few days it looked amazing.
The day was not over yet! We took advantage of the early morning to walk the Grand Canion trail. A circular walk of 6 km going down in the canyon and back up. We walked next and under massive rocks, over and a little bit through the river, behind waterfalls and through vibrant green nature. The recent rains made the river flow high and strong, with water dripping from the canyon walls as if it were raining. It was the perfect end to an unforgettable journey.
Like we did for Japan, it’s time to reflect on our stay in Australia. In short, we love every bit of the country. We would like to take with us their openness and social mentality. Saying hello to everybody you cross like you have known them for years was the start of multiple interesting conversations. We hope they don’t lose that!
For them, we wish better public transport in the future between cities and in smaller cities.
Thank you for the wonderful time Australia, see you on the flip side!