Nigel in the land of OZ
Ahhh in the land of constant sun, at last i can work on my tan! got to sydney on friday (today is apparently wednesday) after a quick (3 hour) flight from Auckland. Booked my place at a hostel in town from the airport and 2 minutes later was approached by some guys with think russian accents offering me a lift. I was convinced the thing was a scam but after interrorgating them for half an hour was convinced that in actual fact they HAD been sent to collect me.Got into kings cross which is the seedy, backpackery end of sydney. I kinda liked it, its got character (if a somewhat disreputable one). I was suprised by the number of oldish buildings in sydney, having expected it to be pretty much like NZ in that way. Sydney does, unfortunely, like london, have the unpleasent habit of consuming your money when you're not looking, so after a couple of days taking in the usual sights and an exspensive night down at darling habour i was off. Katoomba in oz terms is almost considered a suburb of sydney, the fact that its 2 hours away by train in a national park is of little coincidence. Its up in the blue mountains, a really stunning area and rated as one of the top 44 things to do in oz by rough guide, (why 44 i ask, these guide books are crazy). The name come from the blue haze that sits in the forested valleys, apparently something to do with evaporating gum tree gum, or something.... The area was once a hugh plateau, but over time deep and steep sided valleys have formed. The town itself is nearly all art deco in style, decked out in retro colours and packed out with 2nd hand clothes shops. Went for a long walk yesterday through the 'bush' (look at me, fully conversent in local terminology). The forest is just full of bird life most of which has something to say for itself. I saw a liar bird, which at the time i thought was a pheasent or something but was later told by a local what it was and that its pretty rare. Its apparently called that because it can immitate any other type of birds song, being the cover band of the avion world (i know, appalling pun but couldn't resist). Took the 'steepest railway in the world' out of the valley not being able to face the million steps back up and fed some parrots. This will make more sense when i put the pictures up.
posted by justplainnigel @ 2:11 PM
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