Made it to Sydney! (Apr. 16/09 - Katoomba, Australia, mileage 280km)

Since our original contract had today as our return date to drop off our campervan in Sydney, we basically had to show up so we could swap with our new reservation and keep going. The highway south of Belmont was pretty dull, until it merged with the Pacific Highway and ploughed across several national park areas that are supposedly full of Aboriginal rock art and engravings. The Sydney city traffic began over 30km from the inner harbour area, which had us thinking that it would take hours to get across town. Luckily, the van rental place was right beside the airport, which made navigation easy. The shortest route was actually to go straight through the heart of the city, through the Harbour Tunnel that passes under the central waterway, directly under the Harbour Bridge. A slick system of signs, tolls, and lane control had us zooming toward the tunnel with glimpses of the Harbour Bridge and the Opera House just beyond. We will definitely be exploring the city with the couple days we have between returning the van and flying to Fiji!



We managed to find the rental place without any trouble, and we lucked out by being able to simply pay the daily rental costs and carry on in our good old van! We feared we might have to stay overnight in a hotel just to claim a different (but identical) van tomorrow, plus go through all the insurance stuff again. Phew! So we were off, even with a car wash and fresh sheets and towels to boot.

One of the areas we had been looking forward all along to visiting was the Blue Mountains. Located just over an hour west of Sydney, the national park is a series of sandstone plateaus that have been eroded into steep gullies and sheer cliffs, with rainforests, waterfalls, and epic lookouts all over the place. The hiking looks to be fantastic, and the scenery gorgeous with the fresh mountain air and hazy blue horizon (thanks to particles of tea tree oil emitted by the gum trees). So we made our way west along with a zillion other vehicles, stopping to stock up on groceries along the way. The town of Katoomba is perched on the edge of the plateau in the middle of the park, and it has definitely capitalized on day trippers coming from Sydney, with a main street packed with all the antique shops, gourmet restaurants, souvenir stores, and bakeries that tourists love. In just a few minutes, we saw signs for two separate scenic cable car routes, an inclined railway, interpretive walks, bus tours, and botanical gardens. Point us to a hiking trail and we'll be happy! Free of admission charges and mobs of people - perfect!