My last embark took me well out of Sydney into the Blue Mountains. I took a train to Katoomba with only part of a plan. After talking with a local outdoor equipment shop I found a new plan: the six-foot track (or 6^T as it is sometimes shortened to). It is typically a three day excursion that follows a historic horse track to the Jenoleon Caves. But there was one catch: I needed to be back in Sydney for some dinner plans. If I wanted to do the track I would have to make it to the Jenoleon Caves by 3:45pm the next day to catch the last bus back to Katoomba. But after being in the city for weeks I was desperate to punish my legs a bit and give it a go.
The trail starts near Katoomba and descends through a gap in the cliffs down to Nelly's Glen. At this point the vegetation is incredibly lush and thick, watered by the many waterfalls coming down the cliffs. As I walked further the trail changed to pastoral pastureland, dry forests, lush river valleys, and sparse and dry hilltops. This was a great way to see the varied landscape of the blue mountains and the many great Eucalypts and animals that live among them.
The animals I encountered were just as varied as the landscape. Since I was alone I made little noise which allowed me to catch a glimpse of the more shore animals. I saw Eastern Grey Kangaroos, Wallabies, a Trap-Door Spider, a Red-Bellied Black Snake, a giant bee nest, Lace Monitors, hordes of other lizards, Galah Cockatoos, many Lorikeets, Sulfur Crested Cockatoos, Kookaburras, a strange green leech (not attached to me, thankfully), and many other birds and insects that I can't begin to identify (or photograph for that matter!). If you've never heard a Kookaburra click here to hear one!
After I turned out the lights the forest really came to life. The kangaroos I had disturbed when I came to camp returned for water, opossums and/or gliders started rustling through the trees, and kookaburras bantered back and forth. Falling asleep to the thumping hops of roo's in the brush and the amazing calls of the kookaburras made me instantly recognize: "god damn you're in Australia Jeremiah!"
I made it to the Jenoleon Caves with time to spare and sore but satisfied legs. I had finally made it to the outback, seen more animals than I had hoped for, and made it back to Sydney in time for some fantastic Thai food. The pictures here can speak far better for what I've seen!
Thursday, March 19, 2009
Catching Up, Part 2: Royal National Park
Last weekend Elyse, Kathleen, and myself decided to get out of Sydney for the day and see some of Australia’s flaura and fauna. Directly south of Sydney lies a beautiful and easily accessible park called the Royal National Park. Some people walk the length of it in two days, overnighting at the midpoint. We decided just to go for the day so we took a train to a station across the road from the park and headed onto the trail.
The park was absolutely gorgeous! As we walked through a dense Eucalypt forest we had intermittent views of the sea cliffs on the Tasmanian Sea. As always in Australia, there was a huge variety of singing and colorful birds seemingly everywhere. After about 3 hours of walking we finally made it to the clearing above the beach. We had hoped to see kangaroos here but midday proved too hot for them. Kangaroos don’t have many sweat glands so during the day they rest in cooler spots. The best time to spot them are at dusk and dawn (just like deer in the US).
Our trail ended at a squeaky clean beach. And I mean squeaky in the literal sense: when you walk on the sand it squeaks! The beach has a few remnant huts leftover from the ‘depression,’ according to the signs along the path. I’m not sure what this means so I’ll have to research it further. We relaxed and enjoyed the beach and the sun before further exploring along the coast.
As the tide went down it revealed a large flat rocky area known as the figure-eight pools. In the stone there are a number of perfectly round holes and two that are connected resembling a figure eight. Inside are the usual assortment of tide pool critters like small fish, crabs, seaweed, snails, etc. We were even lucky enough to come across a large rockfish that had somehow been stranded in a very shallow pool! Kat decided to save it but I warned her that the fins likely had venomous spines. So Kat borrowed Elyse’s swimsuit from her bag and managed to wrap the fish up and then dump it into the sea without being stung!
The route back took us on a lower path that went through palm and fern tree groves known as the Burning Palms. We spotted a lyrebird although we thought it was a feral female peacock at the time. But the great sight of the day was a Red-Bellied Black Snake that was around 1.5 m long! We didn’t know what kind of snake it was right then so we all kept a respectable distance. I think giving all creatures in Australia a respectable distance is wise until we’re more familiar with the dangerous ones! I later read that the Red-Bellied’s venom is on the scale somewhere above a rattlesnake but just below a King Cobra. Yikes!
Luckily on the way back we just caught the beginning of what turned out to be a dramatic thunder and lightening storm. It was raining so hard that walking the 200 m from the train station to the bus stop got all of us absolutely soaked!
The park was absolutely gorgeous! As we walked through a dense Eucalypt forest we had intermittent views of the sea cliffs on the Tasmanian Sea. As always in Australia, there was a huge variety of singing and colorful birds seemingly everywhere. After about 3 hours of walking we finally made it to the clearing above the beach. We had hoped to see kangaroos here but midday proved too hot for them. Kangaroos don’t have many sweat glands so during the day they rest in cooler spots. The best time to spot them are at dusk and dawn (just like deer in the US).
Our trail ended at a squeaky clean beach. And I mean squeaky in the literal sense: when you walk on the sand it squeaks! The beach has a few remnant huts leftover from the ‘depression,’ according to the signs along the path. I’m not sure what this means so I’ll have to research it further. We relaxed and enjoyed the beach and the sun before further exploring along the coast.
As the tide went down it revealed a large flat rocky area known as the figure-eight pools. In the stone there are a number of perfectly round holes and two that are connected resembling a figure eight. Inside are the usual assortment of tide pool critters like small fish, crabs, seaweed, snails, etc. We were even lucky enough to come across a large rockfish that had somehow been stranded in a very shallow pool! Kat decided to save it but I warned her that the fins likely had venomous spines. So Kat borrowed Elyse’s swimsuit from her bag and managed to wrap the fish up and then dump it into the sea without being stung!
The route back took us on a lower path that went through palm and fern tree groves known as the Burning Palms. We spotted a lyrebird although we thought it was a feral female peacock at the time. But the great sight of the day was a Red-Bellied Black Snake that was around 1.5 m long! We didn’t know what kind of snake it was right then so we all kept a respectable distance. I think giving all creatures in Australia a respectable distance is wise until we’re more familiar with the dangerous ones! I later read that the Red-Bellied’s venom is on the scale somewhere above a rattlesnake but just below a King Cobra. Yikes!
Luckily on the way back we just caught the beginning of what turned out to be a dramatic thunder and lightening storm. It was raining so hard that walking the 200 m from the train station to the bus stop got all of us absolutely soaked!
Wednesday, March 18, 2009
Catching Up, Part 1: Sydney
Sydney is a gorgeous city with a lot of character. The neighborhood we're in right now, Newtown, has more than it's fair share of character, as any Sydneysider will attest. There are activities of every kind and enough space that the background will always be picturesque.
There are SO many beaches here that many are completely overlooked. It's simply amazing to me that any beach as beautiful as the ones here could be overlooked, but it's true. And that's not to say that Sydneysiders don't go to the beach, they are in fact the most beach-going people I've ever seen. It's no wonder that Australia consistently does so well in swimming at the Olympics.
So in our first weeks here Kat and I spent a LOT of time looking for a place to live. We spent little time sight-seeing but we did manage to make it to Bondi Beach. Many Aussies have told me that Bondi is the tourist beach and it's too overcrowded. Only an Australian could be so lucky to say something like that. While there were a lot of people there, I found it to be a very enjoyable beach that had a great show-off feel that only a beach can provide.
We also managed to get down to the harbor to see the famous opera house and the Sydney harbor bridge. They both really live up to the hype, but no necessarily for the reasons that I thought they would. I thought they would be amazing as standalone sights but it's the entirety of the area that makes it a superb sight. The opera house is seated on a small peninsula a short walk from the CBD (central business district) and is attached to the Royal Botanical Gardens. When you walk around the opera house you are not only overwhelmed by the architecture, but also by the views of the harbor bridge, the tall CBD buildings, the botanical gardens, the passing sailboats, and of course flocks of Cockatoos.
That's all I'll say for now because there's a lot to say about Sydney and I'll be here for another year! Hopefully the pictures will help fill in the gaps. Click here to go straight to the online album.
There are SO many beaches here that many are completely overlooked. It's simply amazing to me that any beach as beautiful as the ones here could be overlooked, but it's true. And that's not to say that Sydneysiders don't go to the beach, they are in fact the most beach-going people I've ever seen. It's no wonder that Australia consistently does so well in swimming at the Olympics.
So in our first weeks here Kat and I spent a LOT of time looking for a place to live. We spent little time sight-seeing but we did manage to make it to Bondi Beach. Many Aussies have told me that Bondi is the tourist beach and it's too overcrowded. Only an Australian could be so lucky to say something like that. While there were a lot of people there, I found it to be a very enjoyable beach that had a great show-off feel that only a beach can provide.
We also managed to get down to the harbor to see the famous opera house and the Sydney harbor bridge. They both really live up to the hype, but no necessarily for the reasons that I thought they would. I thought they would be amazing as standalone sights but it's the entirety of the area that makes it a superb sight. The opera house is seated on a small peninsula a short walk from the CBD (central business district) and is attached to the Royal Botanical Gardens. When you walk around the opera house you are not only overwhelmed by the architecture, but also by the views of the harbor bridge, the tall CBD buildings, the botanical gardens, the passing sailboats, and of course flocks of Cockatoos.
That's all I'll say for now because there's a lot to say about Sydney and I'll be here for another year! Hopefully the pictures will help fill in the gaps. Click here to go straight to the online album.
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