Sydney: Opera House and Blue Mountains

 Ep.48 

“Brother and sister, together as friends, ready to face whatever life sends. Joy and laughter or tears and strife, holding hands tightly as we dance through life.” -  Suzie Huitt.

SYD – Sydney, Australia.

24^th-26^th May 2012.

view from three sisters

It’s finally came! Sydney on my roster. Time to visit some relatives and my only big brother, Andrew. When I saw that my first flight after my leave would be Sydney, I directly fold it into two, put it in my bag and reached for my Blackberry, announcing to the whole world that I would visit Sydney on 24^th-26^th of May so that all of my relatives in Sydney would prepare and spare some time with me. Long time no see, fam!

which way?

It was (again, I think you’d be noticed by now that every great flight would depart in the middle of the night) a night flight departing on 10pm from HK down to SYD. I texted Andrew on what time I would approximately arrived in Sydney. Many crews said that Australian flight is tough due to the aircraft configuration, which later I found it to be true (esp. after working in business class). It might be not as long as the Boeing cabin but that particular type of Airbus configuration made life's harder for the crew It took around 8+ hours to Sydney and there I was, stepped my feet (still alive) in Sydney on 6am in the morning Sydney time.

QVB *wow my hair was that long?*

Regarding that I would most probably, which is definitely gonna go out right away after my arrival in the hotel, I took a power nap (maximize any tiny bit of 20 minutes) on the bus from the airport to the hotel we’re staying at, in the Darling Harbour area. And as soon as I entered the lobby, I found out that my lovely older brother and my future sister in-law (if you read my previous post about the Green Canyon), haven’t arrived yet. It was most likely that he was overslept or simply I found it rarely that he was on time. Haha! So I got myself connected to the internet (Australian port: only 30 minutes complimentary! Shoot!) , and directly messaged him through bbm. He said that he just left his apartment few minutes ago to my hotel. Well, he bought me some time to clean and freshened myself.

on the street.

Both of them arrived just after I took a bath. I went down to fetch them and went up to get ready. They dumped their belongings, as they’re gonna stay with me for two nights at the hotel. As usual, we updated each other with some news and issues, as I dolled (well, simply get ready) myself to face the day, in Sydney. Ah! I opened up my suitcase and gave Andrew what he’s been asked me to bring him all the way from Jakarta (since I was just came back from my leave), a steering wheel for his car. After everyone’s ready, Andrew asked me, which method would I prefer: strolling around Sydney on foot or by car. On foot of course! Healthier and better be exercising.

Cockl Bay Wharf with Andrew

As Andrew got his big SLR camera around his neck already, I thought that it would be unnecessary for me to use my own camera. That’s what I love of having a family and friends all around the globe. Free tour guide+gossips+many pictures+many more. *wicked smile* I have mentioned my main points that I would love to see and visit to Andrew like weeks before, so that he could arranged the route and the itinerary without wasting any minutes. And so there we were, we strolled the city from Darling Harbour and Cockle Bay Wharf, where the citizens hang out along the pier, to Paddy’s Market, original Market boasts products as varied as fruit vegetables, clothing, CDs, flowers, homewares, sunglasses, jewellery - and is one of Sydney's major suppliers to the tourist with souvenirs and Australiana. Lots of tempting item to buy. And move faster not to let those shops robbed my wallet to QVB or known as Queen Victoria Building, which is also a shopping district.

Opera House

Along the way, Ci Evi toured me about those places, price range, what’s so special and etc. while Andrew? He was preoccupied on taking numerous pictures of both ladies who’re traveling with him. We came to found a well, literally it was different from a well in a form, but people do toss coins into that small pond (it wasn’t a pond either). So anyway, it was basically a charity “well” that was dedicated those money tossed into it for homeless dogs. How do we know it? It got a continuous pre-recorded voice of a dog (in an human language, of course), wishing all the best luck for those who toss their coins into that small “wishing well”. So we tossed some, took a good picture, and continue our morning walk. It was nearly winter by the time of May, and the temperature was quite chilly, around 12-14° C in day light.

Three Sisters

We made a turn, and as Andrew explained, we were actually walked in a BIG circle as now we’re approaching the landmark of Sydney, which is none other than the Opera House, The Sydney Opera House is a multi-venue performing arts centre in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. It was conceived and largely built by Danish architect. But, here’s the issue, it was almost lunch time, and considering both of my sis and bro haven’t got their breakfast yet, they’re completely hungry. So we decided to stop for lunch! Andrew and Ci Evi brought me to their favorite Thai restaurant in Sydney. They said, it was my cousins that introduced them for the first time to this restaurant named “HOME” in the heart of the city. Ah! I got one two three four FIVE (it became six by the time I write this blog) cousins in Sydney, one older brother, one future sister in law, one future sister in law’s brother, one auntie, two uncles, one niece, one nephew and one future cousin in law. Phew! Have I mentioned all of them? Such a big family there in Sydney that I got! Lucky!

Ci Evi made the order, their most recommended menu. Well, if it’s my family’s taste, it couldn’t be wrong, I will definitely love it too. Trust them! Big Big lunch there that we had and after fueling our engine (read: stomach) to the fullest, it’s time to burn some calorie again by walking around the city. It seems that the weather wasn’t that supportive of our calorie-burning plan. It started to drizzle a bit. Luckily all three of us got our hoodie on our shirt, as for me, I even got some accessories on my hoodie. Haha!

looking for some money?

We tried to walked on the pavement closes to the wall so that we could get some shades from the nearby shops. We avoided direct encounter with rain as it wouldn’t be a great idea to be soaking wet in the middle of chilly weather. Did rain stop us from walking around? Not really, we still made our way back to Darling Harbour area on foot, in fact, we’re continuing our walk all the way to the Opera House. First we passed the Harbour Bridge. We kept on searching the best angle to get a nice picture, even though it was completely gloomy weather. We kept walking around and it seems that the sky couldn’t hold it anymore. It was raining heavily and we’re finally, forced to get a coffee and a beer under the shades just below the Opera house.

See my hoodie!

We spent one hour or two under the shades, hoping that the rain will stop soon. It did, after a while and we continue on our itinerary (never give up, aren’t we?). We (again) took numerous pictures from all angles, so that in the end of the day, we could choose or I rather say sort, which of those pictures are the bests (plural). Anyway, it was also one point to mention, it was hard to choose 12-15 pictures to represent each of my post as it was sorted out of hundreds. Haha!

harbour bridge

Satisfied enough with my pictures, now we walked back to fetch the car. This time, Andrew and Ci Evi will brought me to their residence. It was a nice place to live in to begin with. In the middle of the town, at least it was 5x bigger that my apartment in Hong Kong. There I was introduced (again) with Ci Evi older brother. The evening plan has been decided. My visit to Sydney was not only welcomed by my older brother only, since the whole big cousins and family would be back from their work soon, we will held a family dinner at my Aunt’s place, she’s my dad’s sister. Everyone’s gonna be happy and full!

Sunny turns rainy

Before heading to my Aunt’s, we stooped at a Chinese restaurant to take away some Chinese cuisine. We bought quite a lot, 5 boxes of different menu already, that should be enough. Then we drove further to the suburbs area, not downtown anymore, our first stop was to Eagle Boys’ Pizza. What are we gonna do here? Well this store was my cousins’ and we’re gonna pick my cousin in law as my cousins (brothers) would join the dinner later, after their pizza thingy done. It was very busy there, as we all know, delivery services is where people turning on a rainy chilly day. So, there we were, five of us (Andrew,me,ci Evi, her brother and my cousin in law) in a car to my Aunt’s. Ah! There in Sydney, it was obligatory that all passenger in the car wear the seatbelt, no matter where they’re seated.

Scenic Walk

At my Aunt’s, we’re most welcomed. A conversation over a dinner would be a very common thing that runs in every household. So, eat first and everything could be discussed later. We opened those Chinese cuisine boxes and (well,well blood’s thicker than water) my cousin also bought three boxes of the same menu from the very same Chinese restaurant. Whoa! It turned to be a festive now. My Aunt cooked a reasonable amount of rice, which is on my count was 2-3 rice cooker amount. We ate and we chat over the dining table. A very “long time no see, how life been doing so far” conversation thing in a family. Well that was just the appetizer.

Sydney Family minus few people who were still at work.

After dinner, we packed and tidy up the dining table as my auntie tour me around her house. Simple nice warm place to live, by the beach, a typical warm house just like those that we could see in the movies. It was ridiculously become more and more chilly by the later; we even put on our jacket inside the house. We then took a family gathering picture and other than conversation over dinner, we still got conversation over watching movie (we’re actually not watched the movie, the movie watched us). We talked about so many things that we almost forgot about the time. There was even a time on the middle of conversation when they were so absorbed about few choices of places to show me on my second day of visit, aw how touching. I guessed we finally left my aunt’s around midnight. 

PULL PULL PULL!!

Arrived back in the hotel, I found it very very hard to find a parking lot in Sydney. Not because it was so crowded, but because it was ridiculously expensive (one of the reason why I don’t drive, which became my alibi) and it was also very complicated to read every signage by the street just to know the parking time limitation on a different time during day and week. My God! I was the first to take a bath and went straight to bed (see, I’m a nice girl after all). And when I woke up 7 hours later, it would be another day to explore Sydney.

7 hours later…

Hillsong Church

I woke up early, get ready and as soon as Andrew’s (can guess that he will be the last as he needs those sleep before driving all the day) ready, we board the car. We decided to give it a go to our luck upon the weather that day. All weather forecasts said that it would be raining the whole day. And to make it even more counts, we decided to go to the Blue Mountains, a mountainous region in New South Wales, Australia. It borders on Sydney’s metropolitan area, its foothills starting approximately 50 kilometres west of the state capital. One thing we forgot, if it was reasonable 9-11°C in downtown Sydney, what would it be up there in the mountains? Yet, we just have our thin jacket on.

i do love christmas *on may?*

Andrew and Ci Evi show me the church they go to every week. It’s Hillsong, one of the most well known churches all over the world; in fact, it is probably one of the largest Christian communities. And just across the street, we grabbed a great amount of breakfast to start our long long day. For this trip, Andrew even brought his tripod to support our photo taking session later on the day. Well prepared! As my stomach was full, I tried my best to keep awake along the highway to the Blue Mountain, and finally I lost and slept for about more than 2 hours. Haha!

Echo Point

After a reasonable 3.5 hours drive from downtown to Blue Mountain, we arrived. It was luckily, unexpectedly super sunny up there in the mountain, yet the wind was, as far as I could remember, the most fierce wind I have ever encounter. Once we got off the car, the wind started to blow us away. And due to our medium clothing, yes we were freezing. But, that ain’t gonna stop us there. First up: The Three Sisters. The Three Sisters are a rock formation in the Blue Mountains. They are close to the town of Katoomba and are one of the Blue Mountains' best known sites, towering above the Jamison Valley. Their names are Meehni, Wimlah, and Gunnedoo. The Sisters were formed by erosion. The soft sandstone of the Blue Mountains is easily eroded over time by wind, rain and rivers and the cliffs surrounding the Jamison Valley are being slowly broken up. 

too cold to take put my hands

There was an Aboriginal legend regarding the Three Sisters. It is that three sisters (Meehni', 'Wimlah' and Gunnedoo') lived in the Jamison Valley as members of the Katoomba tribe. They fell in love with three men from a neighbouring tribe (the Nepean tribe), but marriage was forbidden by tribal law. The brothers were not happy to accept this law and so decided to use force to capture the three sisters. A major tribal battle ensued, and the sisters were turned into stones by an elder in order to protect them, but he was killed in the fighting and no one else could turn them back.

JUMP!

As the wind was sooooo extreme, there was no chance that that 4 pounds weight tripod could make it. So we asked people around to take pictures of us. We took more than reasonable five hundreds pictures, perhaps. (what?) from cool to ridiculous pose. But at the end of the day, the freezing pose was most of it. Haha! We then continue our journey by tracking down the mountains (well, up and down). We went to Echo Point, a bushwalking trail leads to the Three Sisters and down to the valley floor via more than 800 well-maintained steel and stone steps called "The Giant Stairway". There, we hardly even fight for a spot to take picture as there were no other than us. Thanks to the wind! (even though I hardly could clenched my fist anymore, frozen). Then a 1.5-hour walk on The Federal Pass trail leads to the base of Katoomba Falls and the Katoomba Scenic Railway. We took the Scenic Railway (AUD 36) to see over the Katoomba Falls. The Scenic Railway includes the Katoomba Scenic Skyway, the Cableway and Katoomba Scenic Walkway a 2.4km elevated boardwalk through ancient rainforest. 

Scenic Railway!

The Scenic Railway is the steepest cable-driven funicular railway in the world, the steepest incline of 52 degrees contained within a total incline distance of 415 metres. It was originally constructed for a coal and oil shale mining operation. We even walk through the mine and forest and enjoy and make the most of it (of course, what do you expect after paying 36 AUD per person?). We were already half Eskimo by the time we went onto the skyway to look Katoomba Falls from far and damn! the cable car has no windows, well it was holes. The wind was too strong that the guy told us to wait for another 5 minutes as we could see that the cable car swinging on its way to the boarding station. According to the cable car operator it was 5.7°C if we don’t count the wind, but if we includes the winds into the calculation, it became below zero. NICE!

BIG Dinner

My teeth began to clatter by the end of the trip back to the parking lot. It even took me almost 1 full minute to try to lock my washroom door as my fingers were freezing. Andrew turned the car’s heater to the fullest and we drove back still freezing. I slept again all the way to the city. We made a stop at a Vietnam restaurant, (again) my families’ recommendation called AN. This restaurant is inexplicably famous. They don’t accept any other method of payment other than cash and they made the bank came to their shop to collect their money as it would be too risky for them if they bring the cash all the way to the back itself. Rumors said that they could make around 30k AUD every day, so that the bank agreed to make the arrangement. We ordered Pho, which is Vietnamese traditional noodle in beef broth and enjoy the warmth of the soup.

Trully Australia

Afterwards, still didn't satisfied with our pictures in the rainy days at the Opera House, we did went back there again to take some picture at the night. Phew! Finally, before my visit to Sydney come to and end, I did a favor for my friend, to deliver a shoes to her sister, which accidentally lives in the apartment across my brother’s. So I dropped the shoes with the security guard and back to the hotel we went. We transferred all the picture from the camera to the pen drive and slept. The next morning, Andrew woke up at 4 am, he got to got back to work as he already took his leave for 2 days. Ci Evi, on the other hand, will stay in the hotel until 9 am, she also got to work as she already reported sick to accompany me. Me? I have to start my duty at 6am back to Hong Kong. 

we are family!

Feel blessed? Absolutely! Even more day by day. I wrote my blog not for nothing, it was simply by writing it, I recalled all details about my travel itinerary and feel so damn blessed of what I've got. It was sort of kinda like a reminder for me on how far have I gone from the first point of my dream. My job is far beyond enjoyable for me. Meeting friends and family members, waking up in different part of the worlds every other day. From this Sydney trip, I did realized that no matter how far we were, family bonds were there, in our veins. And by the next time I visit Sydney, I hope it will be summer! 

“Sorry, I don’t drive…I fly!” – Me.