Sunday, Feb.2 and Monday, Feb.3- Swimming and the Blue Mountains

Sunday we walked over to the Ian Thorpe Aquatic Center to swim.  It is named after the Olympic Swimmer from Australia.  It cost 44 million dollars to build and it is beautiful.  It felt so good to get back into the pool again.  What a fun thing to do on a very hot day.  Feb. 2 is the Chinese New Year and there was a parade downtown in the CBD (Central Business District) in the evening. We walked over to see the parade but it was not even possible to see anything. The crowd was 10-15 people deep.  WAY too crowded and still very warm outside.  We retreated back to the apartment to crank up the air!  We didn't go to the harbor to see the fireworks either. Too crowded, too hot, and too late!

The crowd at the Chinese New Year's parade.

Monday we took a tour bus to the Blue Mountains, about an hour north and west of Sydney. We had a great tour and the bus driver and guide, Russell was very interesting and knowledgeable.  Our first stop was the mountain village of Leura. So adorable. Russell suggested we get banana bread from a cafe in town, "The Loaves and Dishes"  It was warm and very tasty.  Poor Tom always gets stuck  in the photos featuring the food!

There is an aborignal story about three sisters who went up the mountain with their father.  They were chased by a mamoth beast and were so scared they froze and turned to stone. The father turned into a bird while attempting to scare off the beast. This tale is the basis for the names of some of the rock formations in the Blue Mountains.  The mountains appeat blue due to the fog, elements in the air, and foliage from the tropic rain forest below and the eucalptus trees.

The three sisters rock formation

Sculptures of the three sisters and their father.

The Blue Mountain basin is about the size of the Grand Canyon in Arizona, however the Blue Mountains are older. Scientists believe that in thousands of years, the Grand Canyon will look like the Blue Mountains with all of the foliage.

In the1800's there was coal mining in the Blue Mountains and there were many remaining artifacts along the walking trail.

Scenic World is the park area that provides the transportation up and down to the basin of the mountains.  We took a cable car to get across the mountains, an inccline railroad to get down, and another cable car to come back up.

  

  We saw so many beautiful trees and plants in the mountain tropical forest.  It was nice and cool and the walk ways were easy to hike on. We loved it.

 Following Scenic World, we went to an Aborignal Show in Katoomba.  They had some amazing artwork in their gift shop.

As the day got warmer and then hotter, 98 degrees, we went to the Featherdale Wildlife Park to see walabys, kangaroos, kookaberas, dingos, koalas, crocodiles, and many many other birds and animals.

Kookabarra - You know from the old gum tree!

Wallaby

Storks

Kangaroo

Owls

This is an owl. He surely gave me a wierd look. 

Fairy penguins who love the warm climate.

On our way back to Sydney, we drove through the 2000 Olympic Park. It is on 350 acreas of land. They say they could be ready in two weeks to host the summer olympics again if needed. Everything is still in tip top shape and is used often.  It really is a beautiful park with HUGE arenas and areas.

Our day ended by taking a Parramata river cruise back to Darling Harbor and then a light dinner at a Mexican Restaurant two blocks from our apartment.