We are so over this trip! Vacationing is one thing, traveling around by Greyhound bus in an expensive country is another! Well, actually it would be really cool if we were in a country that was more interesting and not so y hot! There isn't much history and culture to see in Australia, it's pretty new and, along the coast, the towns are so much alike. They're touristy but not as cool as the beach towns of Southern California. Apartments and hotels and over-priced restaurants. We finally said "to hell with it" and got to Sydney a week early so we could rent a car and head out on our own for a week. For the price of getting a hostel for the week we got a little car and headed out to the Blue Mountains. The 1st place we decided to camp was back down a dirt road for about 7kms. We didn't expect to find anyone back there but, low and behold, we drive up at 3:30pm just as the last stragglers of an all night rave were winding down! There was a DJ still pumping out rave music and people slowly packing up and leaving. There was trash everywhere! We didn't stay at the official camping area but moved a little down the road to a better, more private place. At least the people who put the rave on were cleaning up, but it took them all afternoon and they were still at it when we left monday around 10. At least they were quiet that night, I can't say that much for the birds. This country is filled with the loudest and most annoying birds!!!
The Blue Mountains weren't what we expected. It's actually kind of like the Grand Canyon (they even have an area called the Grand Canyon) but it's not desert. It's hot and dusty fields and gum trees that cover the mountains. There are a few pines as well, but mostly eucalyptus trees. The 2nd night we camped at an area that looked down out into the canyons and it was actually quite beautiful and, best of all, no loud birds at all hours! We stayed until about noon on Tuesday jsut relaxing and reading. Too bad that meant that we were headed out to sightsee in the hot HOT day. I think the temps were between 35 and 40C (that's around 100)!! Not to nice. We went to some caves to tour the caverns and it was actually nice and cool, but there wasn't a good camping area that we expected so we kept driving after that....and kept driving...and kept driving. Ok, not all night or anything, but we finally happened upon a random "tourist park" around 6:30 that night and for $20 we got to camp, have a little outdoor kitchen and a great hot shower! Oh yeah, I forgot before, we hadn't had hot showers since the Friday before!...or was it Thursday...I can't remember. Anyhow, after our first night and on the way to our second camping area we passed a comunity pool in this big, country park so we decided to have a little soak and shower...too bad the showers turned out to be freezing! Oh well, at least we were clean!
This brings us to tonight, our 4th night...Daniel came down with a cold and just wanted to have a good place to rest and sleep in a nice bed, so we stopped at a McDonalds to check for hotels...as it happens, in this country, you get FREE Wi-Fi at ALL McDonalds,.How cool is that?! So we found a nearby Holiday Inn and used up some more rewards points to book it for a few nights. Turns out it's not a bad joint. It's connected to the local RSL (Retired Services League Club--or Returned Services...something like that) It's got a casino with slot machines and a few restaurants and cafes and a gym. The hotel has a nice pool so it'll be nice place to relax for a few days before hitting up the city.
On Saturday we'll head to our hotel in the city, well, in the outskirts of the city. With Marriott rates at $54 a night it's great! Hostels in the city would run about $50 a night for shared dorm room so this is much better. They have a great rail and ferry system that runs into Sydney and it's only about a 20min ride by rail. We're actually going to be staying by the Olympic Park in a cool little town. It'll be so nice to have a place to call home for a week without sharing it with roommates. And on Thursday we'll finally move into downtown Sydney and stay in some Marriott luxury for the last few nights before flying home. Only a week and a half away and we can't wait!!!!! I'm at an internet cafe right now and the RSL Club so I can't upload any pictures, but when we get settled in at the Courtyard we should have good internet and be able to let you see how our pretty little mugs are tanning and doing. Well, I'm still pretty, Daniel has turned into "Mountain Dan" since he hasn't cut his hair since Cabo last April or shaved since we left for New Zealand! Get ready for a treat when you see him in person!!
