Blue Mountains
Blijf op de hoogte en volg Anne
27 Juni 2014 | Australië, Sydney
Hello!
Last week I finished my observations at the Bird Show, because Dan could take over from me. So now I’m back at our little office :) I’ve been busy writing a piece for our newsletter about my research, the newsletter gets send out to all the zookeepers and different departments within the zoo so that everybody can see what we’ve been up to. Other than that I also did my statistics and it’s looking pretty interesting! So the last thing that I’m working on is finishing my report before I leave, which shouldn’t be a problem. This week we also rearranged our furniture, because we have had 4 new interns and there was not a lot of room in the office. We moved everything around and now it looks like a real office with 5 spacious workplaces! During the moving the saw that there was a huge gecko living in our room, which we probably disturbed by moving everything around. The next day he was still complaining a bit (sounds like a robotic frog..), but now he seems comfortable again. An old assistant of Vicky came by and said that he’s been living there for years, so we have pet we never knew about ;)
Last Saturday I took an early train to Katoomba (about 100km to the west), which is the main village within the Blue Mountains. The train was really full, some people didn’t even had a seat, because it was the Winter Magic Festival that day. After dropping off my bag at the hostel, I went to see the parade. It’s very comparable to the carnaval parade; everyone was dressed-up, lots of big bands playing music and lots of big creations according to the theme ‘phoenix dreaming’. Then I walked a bit through the streets, which were full of stands selling stuff and I watched some music and dance performances in different locations. Later on I had enough of the big crowds of people, so I decided to walk to the Leura Cascades (waterfall). On the way there I saw many cockatoos and that was the first time I saw the amazing view over the mountains. After some pizza, I went to watch the closing ceremony of the festival with the local big band playing and marching. Since no party in Australia is complete without fireworks, as soon as the band was done the fireworks came :) I stayed for a while listening to some strange fiddler band, but then I decided to go back to the hostel. Reading a book next to the fire with some tea and a cookie to finish a lovely day.
The next day I woke up early, since that is my rhythm now due to my working schedule. The lady on the bed below me was a bit strange and a very noisy sleeper, but I managed to get some hours of sleep. I walked towards Scenic World, which is the biggest tourist attraction in the Blue Mountains. I got there when I had just opened, so I had my own private train that runs down into the valley. This is the steepest train in the world with 52⁰ and you can even adjust your seat the get 4⁰ more or less :) Down in the valley there is a board walk through the forest with lots of information on the mining history and the different trees that grow there. After a nice stroll, I decided to go back up using the cable cart. Another ride down and up with the train (unlimited rides included in the ticket!) and then I decided the take another cable cart which takes you across the valley and part of the floor is made of glass so that you can look down. The views were amazing and from there I decided to walk to Echo Point, which is the best look-out in the area to watch the Three Sisters (three pointy rocks next to each other).
To finish my trip I went to Wentworth Falls, a small village near Katoomba. I did the Darwin walk, as a true biologist ;), which was really different from what I’ve seen till now. It was a flat area with lots of small bushes, eucalyptus tree and a stream with ferns that you kept following. That stream led to the high light of this walk: the waterfalls. Many steep steps down gave the most amazing view of the waterfalls, although going back up was a bit of a challenge :) It was definitely worth the view, so impressive! I bought myself a piece of cake and got back on the train to Sydney.
It was for sure one of the best things I’ve seen till now!
Anne
P.S. It seems that you can only see 20 pictures below my report, if you want to see the last six (with an awesome waterfall!), click on photo's on the left hand menu :)
Last week I finished my observations at the Bird Show, because Dan could take over from me. So now I’m back at our little office :) I’ve been busy writing a piece for our newsletter about my research, the newsletter gets send out to all the zookeepers and different departments within the zoo so that everybody can see what we’ve been up to. Other than that I also did my statistics and it’s looking pretty interesting! So the last thing that I’m working on is finishing my report before I leave, which shouldn’t be a problem. This week we also rearranged our furniture, because we have had 4 new interns and there was not a lot of room in the office. We moved everything around and now it looks like a real office with 5 spacious workplaces! During the moving the saw that there was a huge gecko living in our room, which we probably disturbed by moving everything around. The next day he was still complaining a bit (sounds like a robotic frog..), but now he seems comfortable again. An old assistant of Vicky came by and said that he’s been living there for years, so we have pet we never knew about ;)
Last Saturday I took an early train to Katoomba (about 100km to the west), which is the main village within the Blue Mountains. The train was really full, some people didn’t even had a seat, because it was the Winter Magic Festival that day. After dropping off my bag at the hostel, I went to see the parade. It’s very comparable to the carnaval parade; everyone was dressed-up, lots of big bands playing music and lots of big creations according to the theme ‘phoenix dreaming’. Then I walked a bit through the streets, which were full of stands selling stuff and I watched some music and dance performances in different locations. Later on I had enough of the big crowds of people, so I decided to walk to the Leura Cascades (waterfall). On the way there I saw many cockatoos and that was the first time I saw the amazing view over the mountains. After some pizza, I went to watch the closing ceremony of the festival with the local big band playing and marching. Since no party in Australia is complete without fireworks, as soon as the band was done the fireworks came :) I stayed for a while listening to some strange fiddler band, but then I decided to go back to the hostel. Reading a book next to the fire with some tea and a cookie to finish a lovely day.
The next day I woke up early, since that is my rhythm now due to my working schedule. The lady on the bed below me was a bit strange and a very noisy sleeper, but I managed to get some hours of sleep. I walked towards Scenic World, which is the biggest tourist attraction in the Blue Mountains. I got there when I had just opened, so I had my own private train that runs down into the valley. This is the steepest train in the world with 52⁰ and you can even adjust your seat the get 4⁰ more or less :) Down in the valley there is a board walk through the forest with lots of information on the mining history and the different trees that grow there. After a nice stroll, I decided to go back up using the cable cart. Another ride down and up with the train (unlimited rides included in the ticket!) and then I decided the take another cable cart which takes you across the valley and part of the floor is made of glass so that you can look down. The views were amazing and from there I decided to walk to Echo Point, which is the best look-out in the area to watch the Three Sisters (three pointy rocks next to each other).
To finish my trip I went to Wentworth Falls, a small village near Katoomba. I did the Darwin walk, as a true biologist ;), which was really different from what I’ve seen till now. It was a flat area with lots of small bushes, eucalyptus tree and a stream with ferns that you kept following. That stream led to the high light of this walk: the waterfalls. Many steep steps down gave the most amazing view of the waterfalls, although going back up was a bit of a challenge :) It was definitely worth the view, so impressive! I bought myself a piece of cake and got back on the train to Sydney.
It was for sure one of the best things I’ve seen till now!
Anne
P.S. It seems that you can only see 20 pictures below my report, if you want to see the last six (with an awesome waterfall!), click on photo's on the left hand menu :)
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28 Juni 2014 - 09:44
Willemien:
Wauw!! Wat mooi!
Dat wordt dus een dag Blue Mountains vanuit Sydney over een ruim 2 weken!
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30 Juni 2014 - 20:47
Willem:
Wow! Wat een schitterend landschap! Leuk dat je weer zo'n mooie trip hebt kunnen maken. :)
Tot over 2 weken! -
09 Juli 2014 - 10:15
Cindy:
Klinkt weer echt als een avontuur. :) Ik word zo vrolijk van je verhalen Anne.
52 graden omhoog/omlaag in een trein is wel echt heel erg veel zeg. Niet eng? Echt achtbaan hellingen zeg.
Fijn dat je nu een ruimere werkplek hebt en dat er nog 4 stagiaires bij passen. Beetje schuiven doet vaak wonderen. En je treft zelfs nog huisdieren aan ook! :P
Stiekem ben ik benieuwd wat je nu precies aan het analyseren bent. Ik weet dat het de voortplanting van de roodstaartkanarieraafpapagaaihamsters betreft en dat ze toffe kuiven hebben maar vanuit welke hypothese je gewerkt hebt ofzo, daarvan heb ik geen idee.
De foto's zien er super uit zeg. Heeft het trouwens echt iets met Darwin te maken of heet het toevallig de Darwin walk? Veel plezier daar nog! Liefs, Cindy
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