Manly Beach

We spent Wednesday at the famous Manly Beach. It was full of surfers and beach volleyball! We discovered that Volley Fest 2017 was taking place and we caught a handful of men's qualifying games. We watched France, Australia, Japan and the US play throughout the day.

Manly is definitely surf capital in Sydney. There were dozens of surfers along with 4-6 school classes learning to surf. We have seen on school sign boards that students spend the week before school gets out for the summer taking surf lessons!

You take the ferry from Circular Quay to Manly. It provides a beautiful view of the city. On our way home as the sun was setting there were dozens of sailboats in the harbour. It was a beautiful site.

Blue Mountains-New South Wales

We spent Monday evening and Tuesday exploring the Blue Mountains west of Sydney. This was some of the most incredible landscape we have ever seen. The Blue Mountains are called "the blue mountains" because the eucalyptus oils from the trees create a blue appearance. 

Our first stop in the Blue Mountains was at the Three Sisters monument. This is one of the most famous formations in the Blue Mountains. It is called the Three Sisters because the Aboriginal legends says that a whichdoctor turned 3 sisters to stone after they were not allowed to marry the men they loved. The men decided to kidnap the women in order to marry them which led to a tribal disagreement and the sisters lives were in danger so to save them the witchdoctor turned them to stone. 

After a morning visit to the Three Sisters we headed to Scenic World to ride the world's steepest train, a glass bottom sky way and a gondola ride after a hike through the rain forest. 

Walking through the rain forest was a new experience. The plants and trees were larger then life and the sounds of the bird, insects and bats was overpowering to our senses. We had the feeling we had been transformed to an entirely new world. 

We explored many look outs and each lookout provided a different perspective of the Blue Mountains. We also met people from Wisconsin, Los Angeles and Boise, Idaho while at Three Sisters. This was only the second time on our trip we met people from the United States.  The Blue Mountains is also the first place we have no encountered a school field trip! With summer beginning shortly for students, they are out and about on field trips every where we go. 

We are nearing the end of our adventures. Two days left which will be spent at the beach! We have had an amazing trip and created many new family memories, but our looking forward to our home and our two cats! 

Jenolan Caves-Blue Mountains-Sydney

Monday we headed to the Blue Mountains to spend a couple of days. We decided to begin our journey in the Jenolan Caves. They are approximately 2 1/2 hours west of Sydney. It was well worth the drive. We took the River Cave tour which included 1,250 stairs (not steps, stairs!). It was amazing to see some of the world's oldest caves and Australia's most famous caves.

After climbing flights of stairs into the cave and then descending down dirt floors we arrived to a magical place full of quite blue water and limestone statutes. We all learned many new facts on this two hour tour. For instance, the person who discovers the cave gets to name the cave and all the landmarks in the cave. The River Cave was discovered in 1903.

The river that runs through the cave into the Blue Lake is as beautiful blue as it appears in the picture. It is also so clear that it takes awhile to know if you are looking at a reflection or a very deep river. It is blue because of the deposits coming off the walls. There is no life in the cave as it is too dark and where the river enters the cave the water goes through a natural sand and rock filter.

Our favorite landmark in the cave was the Reflection Pool.

This limestone monument was interesting as it built from the ground up as water flowed from the top of the cave.

This photograph shows the curvature of the roof of the cave. Parts of the cave had very smooth and flat roofs and others had formations like this. It all depended on the water flow through the cave as it was forming.

This was a great adventure before we headed for an evening in Katoomba and to prepare for the Blue Mountains on Tuesday.

Australia Walkabout Wildlife

The Australia Walkabout Wildlife Park is the best thing we have done to date in Sydney! We spent almost 5 hours exploring the refuge and learning all about native Australian animals.

We started out petting the kangaroos and wallaby's. The park had 2 different species of kangaroos. The Gray Kangaroo and Red Kangaroo. There were 3 wallaby species. The Swamp Wallaby, Bushland Wallaby and the Parma Wallaby. Watching the joey's hang out of their moms pouches was entertaining. One of the kangaroo joeys would dig in the dirt while his mom ate. The wallaby joey was just enjoying the sights and sounds. When they were ready to sleep though they would turn around and the only thing you could see was their feet.

The kangaroo and wallaby's were similar to petting a deer or other type of wild game. They were not soft but not rough either. The wallaby's had slightly softer fur then the kangaroo. The only difference between a kangaroo and a wallaby is their size.

Wallaby

Wallaby who was pulled her joey out of her pouch, gave her a bath and shoed her away to go play!

We also got to meet and hold a jungle python. This was definitely outside our comfort zone but we all gave it a try!

The python had a unique feeling. It was smooth and tough. Not scaley or slimy.

We waited all day to let the koala's. We learned so much about the koala's that we didn't know. Koala's have fingerprints that look like ours. The only difference is they have two thumbs! Their bottom half is a lighter color so when prey looks up the tree they think it is a cloud! Also the koala is only awake in 15-20 minute increments as the eucalyptus tree leaves they eat do not have enough nutrients to sustain them longer than that. There are over 700 varieties of eucalyptus trees but koalas only eat a tenth of the varieties. The saddest thing we learned is that due to logging in Australia koalas will be extinct by the year 2020.

Petting a koala was amazing. Their fur was soft. It was similar to a baby sheep or bunny.

 

This day completed numerous bucket list items!!!

Sealife Aquarium

Friday was suppose to be overcast and rainy so we headed down to Darling Harbour to checkout the Sealife Aquarium. If you do not have an aquarium near you or have not been to one recently we recommend it. Even though it is on the small side the aquarium was full of sea life that can be found around Australia. We saw everything from a Dugong to coral. The aquarium was broken into areas around Australia. We started at the Southwest Shipwreck and worked our way around Australia to the Great Barrier Reef. In the Southwest Shipwreck we saw octopus', little penguins and Port Jackson sharks. From there we went to the Jurassic seas where we saw many different types of fish. Including one who was an albino. He had been rescued from the ocean as he was vulnerable to prey as he did not blend in with the bottom of the ocean.  There are also fish that do not require water part of the time so they can survive periods of drought in Australia. 

The Sydney Harbour area had the most diverse sea life. We learned that Dory, a Blue Tang, is actually quite a dangerous fish in the wild as she has sharp points on her bottom side!

                                 

After leaving the Sydney Harbour we arrived at Dugong Island. There we saw Dugong hanging out above us as walked through a Plexiglas type tunnel. It was fun to watch him eat and swim.  The aquarium has multiple tunnels that go through the aquarium's exhibits so you can see the sea life at their level. We could see the manta ray's, sting ray's, sharks, fish and more. 

                                 

After leaving Dugong Island we ended up at tide pool where we could touch different coral and animals. 

Sealife Aquarium also has a new ride that takes you through a penguin colony. At the end of the boat ride you can spend some time watching them frolic, eat and nest. 

After leaving the aquarium we had a nice lunch on the harbour before heading to Paddy's Market to do some shopping! 

Taronga Zoo-Sydney

Thursday was a cooler and cloudy day so we hit Taronga Zoo. To reach Taronga Zoo you take a ferry from Cicular Quay to the zoo. The view from the ferry of the harbour is beautiful. The view of the Sydney skyline from the zoo is AMAZING.

I took hundreds of pictures and videos to put a video together for my students. Once I have finished the video I will add it to this post. Our favorite parts of the zoo were the native animals. You could walk through the kangaroos and wallaby's napping  and catch the koala napping in a tree.

We also saw the Luzon Bleeding Heart (bird), the baby elephant and so many more beautiful animals. It took us about 4 hours to see the entire zoo.

One of my favorite parts of the zoo was the lemur exhibit. We had never seen lemurs before and they are very social creatures!

We enjoyed the zoo and recommend it if you do not have a large zoo close to your hometown.

Cables Wake Park-Penrith

Wednesday was a great day. We left the city behind and headed to Penrith, north of Sydney towards the Blue Mountains. On Groupon we found the Cables Wake Park. You can wakeboard, ski or knee board on a cable. They also have a large trampoline water park.

The cable system goes around the entire lake (approximately football field size). It is very different than skiing behind a boat. You start fast, there is no wake and the corners are sharp! Simon started off kneeboarding and Seth wakeboarding.

Seth then did a little skiing and Simon learned to wakeboard.

After the Cable Park we headed to the Aqua Park for an hour of fun!

It was a great afternoon and very nice to get out of the City!