Road trip to 2010

I’m back! Arrived home last night at 2am and still feeling pretty knackered, but I had a really great road trip! Most of our friends were overseas enjoying the Northern Hemisphere, so my friend Anthony and I travelled along the east coast of Victoria and NSW and spent NYE in Merimbula, 3 nights in the Blue Mountains then a night in Parramatta which is close to Sydney.

I am wearing shorts =__=;;

NYE was very pleasant (a good contrast to previous rowdy drunk NYEs). Spent the final day of 2009 lazing at a beach and that night we lit sparklers and walked down to the wharf to watch the fireworks.

We spent most of the 1st of Jan on the road to the Blue Mountains. We got a bit lost in Sydney however arrived in Lithgow by mid-afternoon, which is a very quiet country town propped up in the mountains.

Lithgow has Hassans Wall, which is the highest scenic lookout in the Blue Mountains.

 I love how they have this park bench here! Hehe, I look like a boy :P

 I could have sat there all day…

Zig Zag Railway. We hiked from Clarence station widing down to Bottom Points Station which was a 2 km hike (took 45 minutes) and caught the steam train on the way up/back!  I was covered in soot afterwards! :D

 

Govetts Leap Falls in Blackheath. Took us a bit over an hour and a half from the top to the bottom of the waterfalls and record time to hike back up the mountain. I prefer hiking up than down. It was very steep, slippery (was raining) and my knees and quads wanted to scream, but the waterfall was worth it :)

Jenolan Caves are a natural wonder millions of years old filled with stalactites and stalagmites and other beautiful limestone formations. These photos of the Lucas Cave, don’t do it justice!

Looks like strips of bacon :P

Some reason this reminds me of lots of jelly fish

Afterwards, we travelled down to Katoomba, which is a town about 30km away from Lithgow. In contrast to Lithgow, this town had a more youthful feel to it because its population is dominated by backpackers. If you live in Melbourne, I would say Katoomba is like Prahran. We dinnered here in Cafe Zuppa which had an awesome vibe! The tables had crayons and paper-tablecloths for us to doodle while we waited for our meals. Unfortunately I didn’t have my camera to snap our masterpiece and meals. :( I had the Mixed Grill, which was kangaroo, steak, sausage, egg, salad & wedges; good way to refuel after a strenuous day. :D

The following morning as we left the Blue Mountains, we also had breakfast here and I had Eggs Florentine on very thick yummy toast. I love this joint!

We were meant to head home on the 4th, however Anthony was feeling tired so we decided to spend the day/night in Sydney. After finding a place  to sleep in Parramatta we headed off to Sydney. Last time I went to Sydney was about 7 years ago. It’s a very beautiful city but the streets are hell! Would have liked to stay longer though…

We walked around The Rocks, Circular Quay and dinnered on Darling Harbour at Blue Fish restaurant which was voted as serving the best fish & chips of 2009.

 

We ordered the Fisherman’s Basket and Paella. I’ve wanted to try paella after seeing it on Master Chef :x I understand why they have been named as having the best fish and chips- the fish was heaven! It was soft and the batter was crunchy. For desert I had the Blue Fish waffles & banana split. The vanilla ice-cream was so good! I felt like such a pig having desert after a big dinner — the waiter (with his Spanish accent) laughed at me & kept refering to my desert as “the special”, haha!

 

On the day we were to head back to Melbourne, we visited Toronga Zoo to see the new baby elephant Luk Chai! He is sooooo cute :3!

I am so glad to have ended and started a year with this trip. I’m feeling happy & healthy- let’s hope I feel this way for the rest of the year :)

• Blue Mountains
• Merimbula
• road trip
• Sydney