Off to the Blue Mountains outside of Sydney

We had booked a private tour via the internet to the Blue Mountains.  The tour picked us up outside our hotel early in the morning so we checked out and had the hotel hold our luggage once again.  We drove over the Bridge and toured the Olympic village all of which is in use for various purposes and maintained in pristine condition.

Heading over the bridge in the van.

 The Olympic Village

 Blue Mountains, tram and gondola

 We were often up above the clouds and mist in the Mountains.

 The gondola heading down into the rain forest.

 The rain forest smelled like heaven with all the gum trees.  Bought some eucalyptus oil to take with us...great stuff for clearing out the head and enhancing breathing.

 The gondola at the top of the hill

 which took us to the bottom and into the rain forest.

 A little rest stop

 The Three Sisters.

Our next stop was an aboriginal cultural center and the show was wonderful. 

We stopped at a tiny town before heading to the wildlife exhibit.  The shopping was fun and the houses and structures were so lovely.

 The cockatoos (or cockateals  spelling?)  were everywhere and we were told native to this area in particular.  They were quite use to the gawking tourists and appeared to pose for our cameras.

 We stopped at Flat Rock before our next leg of our tour.  Due to my vertigo, I did not venture out onto the ledge that overhangs a drop of hundreds of feet into the valley below.  A nice young lady on our tour offered to take the photos for me.  When I passed the camera to E to take a couple more, we dropped it into a puddle.  I pulled the battery out fast and let it dry out for two days.  It worked fine until I took a picture or two at a church later in the trip and...well, that is a story for another time.

 Featherdale Wildlife Park was amazing.  We got to pet small kangaroos, watch a mama and her baby feed and cuddle with a napping koala bear.  I used my tablet to take the pics and now can not find them on its storage.  Will be calling my son for assistance with this as the ones of us with the Roo and the Koala are priceless.  These are the only two I was able to locate.  This guy is not dead but just very sound asleep.  He moved when our guide scratched his tummy.

 

 Then it was back to our hotel to collect our luggage and check into our balcony room on the ship.  The bottle of bubbly and the fruit plate were more than welcome.