dwkennedy

View from the room.

Sydney Opera House and Harbour Bridge. Taken from the Royal Botanic Gardens.

Me ruining the view.

I'll be climbing this in two days.

This is just a really cool looking plant in the Gardens.

A view of Sydney from Watsons Bay area.

A Blue Tongued Lizard eating some fruit.

Why not another pic.

For the ladies. Complaints? I didn't take it.

For the ladies once again. Complaints? I didn't take it.

This is the entrance to Sydney Harbour. The Gap Park is also well known for its high number of suicides. There is a normal railing that is quite easy to climb, er, step over, and it's a loong way down to gigantic rocks.

Here we have the world famous Bondi Beach. This is where the Life Guard profession got its start.

North Bondi Surf Life Saving Club. Established 1906, surfers volunteer to assist the paid Life Savers. It's very exclusive and you really have to be good to make the cut. They hold tryouts each year and you have to certify each year. The various clubs throughout Australia meet up for competitions that are, if you've ever seen them, incredible.

Here we have some of the volunteers.

Here we have the village idiot ready to go. I would have put on the shorts but I just don't quite have that surfer physique.

People on the beach.

FINALLY!!! Click the dowload original link.

MORE!!!

Yes, yes. Two more days. I get it!

I have to say, this isn't as big as it looks on tv. Having said that, it is still pretty big and and engineering marvel.

This theatre seats 544 and is where many of the dance companies perform and Bell Shakespeare is performed. Bell Shakespeare puts a different spin on the classics.

Seats 398. Primarily used for single set productions and chamber music. Sorry for it being blurry. We weren't supposed to be taking pictures, so I snapped it quickly.

Here we have the solid concrete support arches. There is no center verticle support for any of the 'sails' that you see from the outside. My crappy photo(s) don't do it justice.

What?!? I couldn't help it. It was really cool! There isn't a bowl or basin, it is gently sloped and the water goes back towards the wall.

Nice picture of the smaller sails.

Eye Candy.

For all of you car buffs, this is an old Chrysler. Note the driver side is on the right.

This is Graham. He was our Wally. I guess he could have been Donk too. He knew everything.

The Jacaranda tree was everywhere and since it was Spring, they were in full bloom.

This photo was taken as we were heading into the Blue Mountains. Like many things in Australia, they got their name based on the fact that from a distance there is a blue hue to them. They get the blue-ish hue from the sunlight reflecting off of the Eucalyptus vapor in the air.

If you go to the Original image, and look for the white line (building) on the left of the picture, then going to the two o'clock position towards the horizon, you can barely see the city of Sydney some 35 miles away.
(you may have to squint)

Here you can really see the blue haze in the air.

This is the path to get to the Falls Mountain Lookout. Carved out of the sandstone.

Looking out into the valley.

Here we have the falls.

Closeup of the falls. Notice the stone walkway at the top of the falls.

See if you can find the trail in this picture.

I found this hole, just to the left of the lookout area. It is about 2-3 feet across and just beyond the branches that you can see, is about a 150ft drop to about 2/3 down into the valley that you can't see. I decided not to get too close.

Special K at the head of the trail.

The Aboriginal dream-time legend has it that three sisters, 'Meehni', 'Wimlah' and Gunnedoo' lived in the Jamison Valley as members of the Katoomba tribe.

These beautiful young ladies had fallen in love with three brothers from the Nepean tribe, yet tribal law forbade them to marry.

The brothers were not happy to accept this law and so decided to use force to capture the three sisters causing a major tribal battle.

As the lives of the three sisters were seriously in danger, a witchdoctor from the Katoomba tribe took it upon himself to turn the three sisters into stone to protect them from any harm. While he had intended to reverse the spell when the battle was over, the witchdoctor himself was killed. As only he could reverse the spell to return the ladies to their former beauty, the sisters remain in their magnificent rock formation as a reminder of this battle for generations to come.

He was the real deal. People were tossing money his way. Looks like some idiot put down a US Dollar.

Don't know where she was from, but def not aborigine. Eye candy.

A favorite among tree-huggin' hippies. Thankfully I had a good breakfast, their food sucked.

If anyone is interested...LINK

This bird is wild but human friendly. A Crimson Rosella.

Nope. It's not the band in the documentary. This was is a great point to see just about the entire valley. I also took a 360 degree video standing on top of he anvil and cautiously rotating.

Looking out from the anvil atop Anvil Rock.

Looking down into the valley.

Looking out across the valley. Our guide, the big guy with the backpack, said that this valley/gorge is large enough to fit 5 Grand Canyons. I'd have to agree.

A more somber note. If you open the Original image you should be able to see a helicopter. They are looking for a base jumper whose parachute didn't open. We were supposed to be at the point where he jumped about the time he jumped but due to traffic we were running late. Base Jumping is illegal in the National Parks. News Story

Time to storm the bridge!

Our guide, Charlize, Cheryl, Shirley or something. She was cool. Since we couldn't take anything on the bridge we had to rely on the guide to take our pictures.

On my way up the bridge. I hated the jumpsuit. Protects your clothing and blends you into the bridge so that you do not distract the drivers below.

On my way down the bridge with Sydney in the background. The views were amazing. You could almost see the curvature of the earth...maybe. I was weak kneed standing at the top, but enjoyed every second of the three hour tour.

Heres the group that I climbed the bridge with.