Good for us that wombats do not stay up all night and eventually we were left alone to sleep the night away in the peace and quiet of Kangaroo Valley. Come morning the valley was full of mist and very cold as well but by the time we had packed up for our trip into Sydney the sun was just trying to break through. Having climbed up and over one “mountain” to get into the valley we were confronted with another of a similar height to get out. Instead of simply going down after reaching the top the road instead remained on a plateau that was a mixture of forest and dairy farms and very swanky estates.
The item of interest for us however was Fitzroy Falls in the Morton National Park. These are the highest falls we have seen during our travels and with the sheer drop over which the water cascades were quite magnificent. Very informative signage about the wildlife of the area and an excellent track network through the forest and around the rim of the valley made for great viewing. One of the most confusing things was the national park day entry charge. At only $3 for such a great facility and location we found it at odds to the $11 charged for much less impressive parks. No complaints though – well worth the visit.
Sightseeing for the day out of the way we navigated our way through the historic village of Berrima and onto the freeway that would (we thought) take us into Sydney. Talk about Melbourne dejavue. About 40km from our destination some very large signage advised we were about to enter the M7 toll way. This was in contradiction to our map where it was shown as a freeway. As it was time for lunch we took the next exit to a rest area that we assume was provided for perplexed travelers such as ourselves to be able to take time to figure out just where on earth they were.
After lunch and a discussion with a very helpful chap we found that the freeway was no longer free and given we did not want a rerun of crossing Melbourne we took the easy option of the M7 toll way into Sydney and the caravan park we had chosen close to St Clair. The odd but pleasant thing about the caravan park is that although really close to suburban Sydney it is actually in the country. Most occupants are permanents so in a way it is a little suburb unto itself. Our rationale for being close to St Clair was that we wanted to visit Carol’s brother Peter and family. Once sorted into the park we took ourselves off to see Peter and Carmel and their dog Missy where we had a most excellent dinner and general catch up. Only sons Tim and Nick were around with Anthony off earning a living in Brisbane.
Tuesday we decided to take a trip into Sydney CBD and to make it interesting we took public transport the whole way starting with a bus trip from the park to the railway station at “Rooty Hill” (go figure) and then into the city by train. We met a nice young chap at the station who was ever so helpful with making sure we were on the right train and all and all in all thoroughly enjoyed the 1hr 45min trip in. On arrival it was a simple matter of navigating our way to Circular Quay and lunch by the Opera House. A very crowded venue as it turned out due to the 93rd Lions International Convention. Quite interesting actually as there were people from all over the world with many of them in traditional dress.
We had been to Sydney more than once back in the 80s so it was interesting to see the changes that had occurred in the most touristy area of the city. Not necessarily all for the better with numerous well known hotel brands now dominating the water front area. That’s progress for you… It is however a beautiful harbour and waterfront area. The city had all the normal hustle and bustle you would expect and after a good ration we longed to escape back to the quiet of the country so once again it was back to the train station and the reverse of our trip in.
Checking our email on our return we found we had a really nice note from Shayne about “our” kangaroo Kiwi at Exmouth being - “Hi Ross and Carol, Kiwi is doing exceptionally well, still a little scrawnier than others but perhaps she will always be slightly smaller due to her circumstances.” Shayne said she would send some photos when she gets a chance. So cool that Kiwi has survived…
Overnight Sydney experienced the coldest weather in 61 years with the area we were in having the lowest temperatures of around -5 degrees. The effect on us was no water supply to the van for a while due to the hose being frozen. Ho hum… With some Kiwis who happened to be in Sydney coming to check out the van we spent the morning giving it a quick clean. All went well but not sure if they are really interested – time will tell… Then it was off to “Plumpton” which is not far from Rooty Hill (cause and effect) to do a bit of shopping. Our very productive (not repro- in spite of all the sex talk) day was made complete by going to see Peter and Carmel again and then dinner out at their club. A very nice evening indeed and a real treat as apart from the excellent company, we do not go out very often while traveling.
