Three Sisters Lookout

the Three Sisters and the Three Amigos! (me, Mike and Tristan)

views over the Blue Mountains

10.01.10 Wentworth Falls Hike - Blue Mountains

An hour and a half's drive west of Sydney are the Blue Mountains, which get their name from the blue haze that emanates from the eucalypts after a hot day in the sun. They are plateau like, huge orange sandstone cliffs overhanging dense eucalyptus bush with many spectacular waterfalls, the best of which is Wentworth. It's named after one of the three explorers who crossed mainland Australia. We're driven out there by Tristan's dad, Mike and taken on one of their favourite hikes down the cliff face into the valley, through the bush, past the falls and the beautiful swimming holes and up the next cliff face by ladder.

They often explore different tracks in the area but do admit that this is one of the hotter days (34 degrees celsius) and if we don't feel that we can cope with the heat we don't need to attempt it. True hikers that we are, dismissed this as a small barrier, and started out nevertheless. Mike wanted us to see a venomous brown snake- he'd heard a statistic that there's one in every 10m squared of bush- so we kept our eyes peeled, but the scenery was exciting enough. The waterfalls were very pretty

and we especially appreciated a refreshing dip in the swimming hole at the bottom of Wentworth Falls.

the swimming hole at the bottom of Wentworth Falls

It was a stunning location with rainbows in the glistening water coming over the cliffs. It wasn't long til we were sweltering again after climbing ten sets of metal runged ladders up the other side. The view was worth it though, over a great sea of green bush to the horizon in the distance. Mike explained that every few years there's a bush fire but we were in no danger today because, even though it was mega hot, there was no breeze to carry the flames. He took us to the Three Sisters lookout to appreciate the unusual three vertical outcrops of sandstone as the sun was setting then it was back to Sydney, exhausted but exhilerated by our trip to the bush.

The Plight of the Aboriginal Peoples of Australia

This is an excerpt from the official document of apology from the government of Australia to the indigenous people, the Aboriginals for the mistreatment at the hands of authority over the years since British colonisation.

"Apology to Australia's Indigenous Peoples
House of Representatives
Parliament House, Canberra

I move:
that today we honour the indigenous peoples of this land, the oldest cultures in human history,
We reflect on their past mistreatment
We reflect in particular on the mistreatment of those who were Stolen Generations- this blemished chapter in our nation's history
The time has now come for the nation to turn a new page in Australia's history by righting the wrongs of the past and so moving forward with confidence to the future
We apologise for the laws and policies of successive parliaments and governments that have inflicted profound grief, suffering and loss on these our fellow Australians
We apologise especially for the removal of indigenous Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children from their families, their communities and their country
For the pain, suffering and hurt of those Stolen Generations, their descendants and for their families left behind, we say sorry
We today take this first step by acknowledging the past and laying claim to a future that embraces all Australians
A future where we harness the determination of all Australians, Indigenous and non Indigenous to close the gap that lies between us in life expectancy, educational achievment and economic opportunity
A future where all Australians, whatever their origins are truly equal partners with equal opportunities and with an equal stake in the next chapter in the shaping of this great country, Australia.

The Hon. Kevin Rudd MP
Prime Minister
February 13th 2008"

It emphasises the Stolen Generations of indigenous children who were taken unlawfully from their parents in order to make them become more 'white', to achieve assimilation within the community. They were put into institutional care or, if more fair-skinned, they were fostered into white families. More than 100,000 children underwent this painful process. It caused many problems of identity for them as they grew older and led to depression, drugs and alcohol and potentially suicide. A lack of identity and not knowing where their true families were must've been a horrendous experience especially since racially stimulated opinions of indigenous peoples as second class citizens were rife. Many civil rights were denied the Aboriginals until quite recently.
It is possible for members of these Stolen Generations to emerge from this cycle of depression and become re-tuned into their heritage through revisiting cultural practises and finding their roots.

poster showing a painting done by an Aboriginal artist reflecting the difficult journey of the Stolen Generations, through a maze of depression and loss, eventually emerging to find their roots (the house at the top).

Original Aboriginal spritiual culture derives itself from the land and connections with it. The Dreaming is a term used to describe the explanations given to the origin of things. These dreamings are individual to clans and are represented in the colourful bark artworks and murals that were painted. The dots' colours are representative of different tribes' members and different symbols have different meanings.

Aboriginal 'totems' used in spiritual practices

I personally love the intricate dot technique which can sometimes be very fine. The geometric patterns are softened by the hand painted dots and daubs adorning totems, shields, masks and murals.

09.01.10 Sydney's Northern Beaches

Tristan's very kindly offered her dad as a chaffeur to take us on a tour of Sydney's northern beaches and show us some of the beautiful places outside the city! We meet up with her at the Sydney Uni swimming pool where she teaches classes, after her morning shift finishes and get picked up by her dad in his flashy white Holden yute. We're extremely grateful to him for taking time out to show us round but he's also very keen for us to see it all and only wishes we were here for longer so he could take us for a longer trip into the outback! The air conditioned car is very welcome to us Brits, not used to the soaring temperatures.

Tristan loves it though- she doesn't seem phased at all by the sweltering heat. We drive out of the city north over the Spit Bridge, past Manly and on to the prettier northern beaches and up to the top of the peninsula to Palm Beach, where Home and Away beach and surf club scenes are filmed!

Palm Beach with Tristan and Mike

There's no film crew there- they do it all during the quiet winter months, but there's plenty of entertainment from the kitesurfers kicking up over the waves and jumping clear into the air. We spot a few blue bottle jellyfish washed up on shore, which can cause a nasty welt if you get stung. It's 4pm and the heat is still hanging around. Tristan's dad takes us round the coastal road to a lookout point with views across the waters of the bays and out to the ocean

and we take a short bush walk through the national park. The sekadas in the trees are starting to make their daily clicking which crescendos into a very loud racket as we negotiate our path watching out for big spiders and snakes. We come across historical Aboriginal cave art in the form of silhouetted hand prints made with red ochre and the pretty twisting branches of the Aussie eucalypts. A goana, large lizard, is being fed by a stupid family of picnickers but it gives us a chance to catch him on camera. Tristan's dad wants to show us kangaroo, often spotted on the way out of the national park at this time of evening when the temperature is starting to drop but, as always, when deliberately searching for wildlife it never shows it's face!

08.01.10 Manly

The ferry to Manly takes you up the harbour past the mouth with views out to the Pacific Ocean. We pass exclusive residential suburbs on the banks of the peninsulas each with it's own golden sand beach and yacht moorings. It takes 1/2 hour sailing to reach the port of Manly and another 10 minute walk through the town to cross the arm of the peninsula to reach the surf beach on the sea coast. The waves here are bigger than at Bondi and Greg especially is in his element boogying over them on his board.

The water's fresh but by no means cold. There's no real threat from shark attack here. Although they are known in these waters controversial nets are in place and helicopter pilots touring the coastline are trained to keep their eyes peeled for that infamous black shadow in the water. The nets are invisible from the beach as they're about 1km offshore and don't come up to the water's surface. Many marine activists protest against them because they are responsible for the deaths of innocent fish including dolphins which get tangled up. It's an agonising death. And they try to convince swimmers they're thousands of times more likely to be in a car accident than attacked by a shark. Other technologies such as sonar sensoring are in the pipeline, but the confidence of visitors swimming at the beaches will unfortunately cause the continuing need for some kind of full proof system, even though many are probably unaware that the nets only partially cover the length of the beaches. The sun reveals itself, the temperature rises and the crowds start pouring in. We enjoy another boogie board session then get dried off and take a walk along the prom taking in the sights- serious volleyball tournaments, gangs of Sydney teenagers whizzing by on colourful chopper bikes and skateboards and hundreds of young families having picnics and kids running around in their special UV protective vests. The heat sets in for the day and, although I enjoy it, at times it's uncomfortable and I find myself scanning the pavement for areas of shade. Carrying our foam boogie boards proves annoying because of their size so we have the genius idea to marker pen a price on each and sell them on the beach. It doesn't take long before a couple of lads approach us and eagerly take them off our hands, pleased to be able to try it out along with everyone else. We walk out to the north head of the peninsula to look back at views of the distant city centre before catching the ferry back.

view from the Manly ferry back towards the Sydney skyline

07.01.10 Bondi Beach

We grow more confident navigating the city's transport system and manage to make our way out to the eastern suburb of Bondi and the famous seaside beach. The locals are known to stay clear of Bondi because of it's popularity with tourists and the abundant choice of other, quieter beaches to be had just south of it, but it's a must on our itinerary so we slot into the crowds and take a dip in the waves. The Bondi beach rescue isn't quite the svelt, muscle bound figures of Baywatch, but they do have a serious job to do, watching the dangerous rip tides and making sure people swim between the flags marking the easier to predict waters. The white sand is pristine and the water clear but we are a bit disappointed, the beach isn't actually that long and the suburb of Bondi isn't the nicest in the city, so we head back into town to visit the Maritime Museum and take in a little more of Darling harbour.

Australia 2 weeks in Sydney and Cairns

05.01.10 - 06.01.10

Sydney (28 - 29 degrees celsius)

Sydney is an impressive city with it's iconic Harbour bridge and Opera House dominating the skyline at the waterfront. Alongside these monoliths is a gigantic cruiseship moored up, almost the same size as a skyscraper and countless boats, ferries and yachts coming in and out of the bays all the time.

It's a very 'happening' place with tons of traffic zooming past on the myriad of flyovers crossing the harbour bridge to the north side, city trains and a monorail holding prime position running along the front not to mention the water traffic weaving it's way in and out of the quays. The fresh breeze from the water keeps any fumes at bay however and it's a pleasant place to walk around. We head for circular quay to begin with and stroll round the edge of the water, along the boardwalk, lined with tourist restaurants and hotels, past the Dutch liner and under the bridge. We come across rows of old shipping buildings propped up on the rotten wooden wharfs with fishermen and boys casting their lines over the edge into the harbour waters. This area backs on to the original settlement of Sydney, affectionately named The Rocks. The buildings here have survived the ever-continuing development of the city skyline and comprise Victorian trading houses, old warehouses and small workers cottages. Sydney's location on the harbour inlet which stretches miles inland with many peninsulas on either side, is it's crowning glory. The suburbs sprawl on to all these peninsulas linked to the main central district by highway and boat. The water is where a lot of the action is, from full scale yacht races to sea kayakers crossing the straits and fishing boats lingering round the light buoys ready to net a catch.

We're really pleased when we contact our friend, Tristan, who we met on the tour in South America, and it turns out she lives only 2 or 3 streets away from where we're staying in the suburb of Stanmore. It's a very convenient coincidence because it means we can visit her the following day and drag her round the aquarium with us, although she does say she hasn't done any really touristy things for years and enjoyed it! Her neighbourhood of Newtown is a lively place centred round the eccentric King Street with restaurants from pretty much every country round the world, 'exotic' clothing shops and Thai massage parlours. She introduces us to the best places to eat and gives us a well needed city orientation, showing us the pretty Botanic Gardens with views of the Opera House and the city's sandstone cathedral in the middle of Hyde Park.

We also make a pilgrimage across the Harbour Bridge taking in the panorama of the city skyline behind us and catch a train back.