Road Trip Sydney

I left Denver at 11 am on Tuesday, March 20 and arrived in Sydney at 7:45 am Thursday, March 22.  Crazy how a day just "disappears" when you go to the other side of the world.  Needless to say Thursday was a rest day that ended with snacks and drinks at the RSL - Returned and Services League of Australia - and the evening raffle.  It was my first raffle and all the prizes had an Easter theme, and much to my surprise I won a basket of Easter eggs.  Also at 6 pm everyone stops what they are doing and on all the televisions a tribute is played for Australia's service men and women past and present.  It was really quite moving.  It reminds me of our Legion and VFW halls here in Denver but they have Keno and slot machines and really nice, big modern buildings.  And of course a full bar - what Legion Hall - or RSL Club - would be complete without one.

My first Australia Raffle winnings

Friday was Road Trip day. We left Sydney and headed southwest, ending up at Fitzroy Falls, which is part of a wilderness area similar to a state or national park.  The road was lined with thick groves of gum trees and we were surrounded by sounds of birds.  Cockatoos fly wild around the city in flocks similar to how the Canadian geese fly around Denver.  Apparently they are as much of a nuisance as the geese are, landing and "pooping" everywhere and making lots of noise while doing it.  It is amazing to see 15 or 20 of them in the grass along the side of the road.  Even though they are protected, from what I have heard they are not well loved.

We reached the falls and walked through a lovely gift shop (that got about $250 AUS from me - the only good thing is it was only $191 US so it made me feel better) and on to the falls.  There was an over hang where we could take pictures.  The falls themselves were quite pretty, but the real view was the valley stretching beyond the falls with mist and clouds floating over it.  We hiked up the hill to get a better view of the valley and it was quite beautiful.

My host and tour guide, Suzan 

Gum trees.  We drove through beautiful forests of these trees.

Fitzroy Falls.  Part of a wildlife area comparable to our State/National parks

View from above the falls looking out over the valley

A pond that was supposed to have Platypuses, but even though we waited patiently, none came out to play.

The common wombat, another marsupial that lives throughout Australia and Tasmania.

The intrepid adventurers.

Termite mound.  Apparently they are quite abundant in Australia.  Suzan told me termites all but gutted the interior of her daughter's house - that had to bulldoze the house and start over.  Even after that, they came back again, but this time they caught them in time to stop them.

Just a cool looking tree.

From Fitzroy Falls we headed south east to Kangaroo Valley.  Named originally for the kangaroos, they were all but wiped out because of the problems they caused for livestock.  In recent years they have been reintroduced and are growing in numbers.

We stopped first at the Hampden Bridge, the only surviving bridge from the colonial period.  Suzan, my host, was telling me that her Grandfather was sentenced to Australia for crimes that were trumped up.  She said it was not uncommon to do that for jobs they needed.  He was a builder and they needed builders so he was convicted.  I also couldn't resist the sign for Hampden Bridge Park and the Lions Club.  I guess they are everywhere and do the same good work in Australia as they do in the US.

I couldn't resist - the Lions Club is everywhere.

Describes the bridge in the next picture.

The Bridge is a single lane bridge so drivers need to stop and wait for anyone who is coming towards them.  It was interesting to see how nicely drivers deferred to each other.

Hampden Bridge Kangaroo Valley New South Wales

Next to the bridge was a pioneer museum.  The curator who also lives on sight is the one who told us about the kangaroos being wiped out, but that wombats are alive and well.  Apparently they are very territorial and one was really challenging him for dominance over the grounds of the museum.  He finally had a removed by a gentleman who ran a reserve for displaced wombats.

The museum resides on a piece of land that used to belong to the army and was vacated.  Since the land belongs to the "Crown" (the government) they made it available to the museum.  All the buildings on the site have either been moved from other places or built for the museum.  All of the artifacts have been donated to the historical society for display at the museum.

The first exhibit was an old operator's stand and they had a video demonstrating how it was used.  I am sure it was cutting edge at the time, but watching how they made each connection was amazing.  It also gives you an idea how limited the population was in this area at the time.

How would you like to be an operator using this?!?

Someone had donated preserved snakes.  Since there are several poisonous snakes in Australia I found it interesting.  After we got done wandering, we saw the sign to beware of red belly snakes when visiting the furthest buildings.  From Wikipedia:  "The red-bellied black snake is a species of elapid snake (venomous snakes native to tropics and subtropics) native to eastern Australia. Though its venom is capable of causing significant morbidity, a bite from it is not generally fatal and is less venomous than other Australian elapid snakes."

Snakes anyone?  An exhibit at the Pioneer Museum.

The rest of the pictures are from different exhibits at the museum.  It was not dissimilar to our pioneer towns.

Old ice chest - the wood was really quite beautiful

Pioneer era kitchen - not too dissimilar from those in the US.

Table set with what was considered the good china - something a family of means would have.

Single bed - I wondered if it was indicative of the size of the settlers.  There was another single bed that was shorter but just as narrow.

Traditional bedroom with bed and baby's crib.  If you look under the bed you can see the chamber pot under the bed.

Finished the day with a nice drive back to Sydney and an order of traditional Fish and Chips.  It was fresh fish dipped in a delicious batter that came out crisp, slightly greasy and oh so delicious.  Even the chips had this delicious crunchy/greasy taste which I am sure were not good for us but tasted oh so good.

Tomorrow it is off to the races - literally - for a race similar to our Kentucky Derby.