Saturday 28^th April, 2012

In November 2007 I visited the Blue Mountains National Park for the first time. Then all was dry and no waterfalls to see. Dominik and Konrad visited the park a few weeks ago. As everybody liked it, we went there again. Our first destination was Katoomba. Here we first bought a nice pick-nick. Then we went to the start of the hike. Along the Prince Henry Cliff Walk we walked at the top of the cliffs to the Katoomba Falls. For me the landscape looks quite different as I remember it then thanks to all the water everything looks much greener. A bit after the waterfall we had to leave the track then it was closed. So we had to follow the road until we could descend a few stairs to the Lady Darley Lookout. From here the track was open again. We continued to Echo Point and I realized that from here you may see the rock formation Three Sisters. A lot of tourists were here and wanted to enjoy the view. After we made a few pictures we descended to the Three Sisters. A wide path and a few chairs led down. Also here a few tourists were fighting with the stairs, but so bad it could not be yet. There are another 800 steps you can go down to the bottom track. As it was already noon we took a break at about two third of the stairs. We enjoyed the pick-nick on a bench and refreshed of the exertion. With new strength we continued descending, but the path does not lead to the very bottom of the valley. In the shadow if the many eucalyptus trees we walked towards the Scenic Railways Station. There we continued to explore the boardwalk through the trees and saw some birds we have not seen yet. One behaved very strange: it whistled and then twitched like it had been hit by electricity.

Here once coal was mined and now a few figures are showing how it was done. Then once again we realized that the Australians do not dispose old stuff. They put a sign, call it historical and make it to tourist attraction. Also a possibility and here they have sufficient space to do so. To get back to the car we had three options: walk up the stairs step by step, take a steep cable car or go by gondola. We chose option 2 and took the cable car. It was only late afternoon and Konrad would have liked to have a look over the countryside. So we drove to Mt. Wilson. As we learnt this is the name of a village and not of a mountain. The village was on the top, but it was surrounded by trees so we did not get a proper view over the valley. On the way back we discovered a road sign to a lookout. After a short hike we could look far over a valley of the Blue Mountain National Park. We saw also the sunset, but a bit hidden by clouds. In the dark we drove back to Sydney. I could drive the last kilometers as Konrad usually in the evening gets tired earlier than I. To finish the day I drove over the Harbour Bridge with its eight lanes. After I was glad to get out of the center as it is demanding to watch so much traffic.

Wednesday 25^th April, 2012

Today was ANZAC Day. On this holiday the Australians and the Kiwis remember the servicemen which lost their lives in the battle of Gallipoli in Turkey in the first world war. Early in the morning there is a parade in Sydney with the Australian army. I preferred to sleep a bit longer and to do something after lunch. Together with Konrad and Dominik I went to Manly. To get there we took the ferry connecting this quarter with the city center. First the path led us along the coast to Shelly Beach. Then we went uphill to a former army camp and after to the Sydney Harbour National Park. On this cliff path we had sometimes view to the sea. At North Head we could watch the sea and the other parts of the city on the other side of the Fjord. Back we took a more direct way. Back in Manly Dominik and Konrad went t-shirt shopping in the souvenir shops. As it got already dark at 6pm, we could see the lights of the Harbour Bridge and the Opera House on the way back to the center. It is fascinating that there are that many areas of green around the center of Sydney.

Saturday 11^th February, 2012

I wanted to do some bicycling, maybe to discover the city a bit. Thomas supported this idea and had already a plan for a tour. We have here two bicycles to our disposition, but we had first to pump up the tires. We started at about 11 o'clock. First we went to downtown and there onto the ferry to Manly. Manly is at the entrance to Port Jackson, how the fjord of Sydney is called. There is a nice beach and and a pedestrian passage with about one police patrol per hundred meters. We cycled up the hill to the North Head. On the way up we learned where the many police officers come from: there is a police academy. North Head are the cliffs at north side of the entrance of Port Jackson from the Tasmanian Sea. Last Sunday I was walking on the other side, on the South Head. On the way back we got caught by the weather: it started to rain heavily. As it did not get better in the next ten minutes, we cycled on. The rain got even stronger and we waited below a tree. As it did not remain dry very long, we again continued on the bicycles. A few minutes later the hot sun had mercy and started to dry us soaking guys. Over the rather small Spit Bridge (it safes us a few dozens kilometers of detour) we cycled towards North Sydney. There were signs for cyclists and it went up and down, left and right, mainly through better-off neighbourhoods. Finally we reached North Sydney and in the amusement park beside the famous Harbour Bridge we granted us an ice cream. Then we had to climb the bridge. The bicycle path is only accessible over stairs. Above we had a nice view and I realized that the area in the east was higher and more hilly as the western part. As we wanted to continue our “harbour tour” the next day, I said to Thomas: “It will be boring. Everything is flat”. After the bridge we drove home. I did then relax, but Thomas wanted to take advantage of the nice weather and went surfing.

Sunday, 12^th February, 2012

Somehow this all together was too much for Thomas. So we started the second part of our tour at 3pm and not at 1pm as planned. It went through downtown and over the bridge as we knew it already from yesterday. Then it went towards the west. It was not boring at all. Again it went up and down, left and right. Just not as high anymore. Also today the sky did not look very trustworthy. It got darker and lightnings started to flash. When the rain started, we went into the shop of a petrol station to buy something to dring and then just waited until the rain was over. After a while the sun came back again. On the way back home there was the big bridge parade: Over the Fig Tree Bridge it went to Hunters Hill, where we explored the peninsula and discovered a old dry dock. The map says we must then have passed the Tarban Creek Bridge, but I do not remember. But I still remember very well the following Gladesville Bridge: it took some time until we finally found the pedestrian and cyclist entry to the bridge! It is at the bottom in the middle of the base were are stairs leading to the right or to the left side. You have first to get such an idea. Then we passed the Iron Cove Bridge and the modern Anzac Bridge. Back in Sydney we crossed Darling Harbour on the pedestrian passage Pyrmont Bridge. Now crossing downtown and out to the Eastern Suburbs and we just got home as it got slowly dark.

Sunday, 5^th February, 2012

I flew to Sydney after Petra and I had to depart in the airport of Melbourne. Once arrived I got into the city by train and then by taxi to my new home in Woollahra. That is half way between center and Bondi Beach. Thomas welcomed me as he was on duty. After lunch Andreas joined us. He slept in. In the afternoon he guided me to downtown. I learned that I have to take bus 389 which stops just in front of our house. I bought a big city map to be able to orientate myself. With the ferry we departed between Harbour Bridge and the opera house, heading towards Watsons Bay. On the way we saw the house where Petra and I will live after beginning of April. OK, we did not know exactly which one was it, but it must be one on the west side of Double Bay. After we left the ferry we went walking. From the South Head we enjoyed the view back to downtown and out into the Tasmanian Sea. The bus brought us back via the crowded Bondi Beach. And tomorrow I have to start working.