It's Christmas.....

Botany Bay

We borrowed my brother's car again and headed for Botany Bay. This was where Captain Cook and his 'Endeavor' crew changed Australian history in 1770. The first encounter with the indigenous people wasn't a good one and Cooks men had to fire musket to warn them off.

Having successfully sent them packing Cook then raised the British flag, which represented the taking of possession of land for the King of England. For eight days his men were sent out foraging while the naturalist Joseph Banks and Daniel Solander explored the natural landscape and collected a vast amount of botanical specimens. Botany Bay was named to celebrate the place where the impressive botanical collection was made.

The three flags represented here are the Aboriginal flag, the New South Wales State flag, and Australian National flag

Cooks landing place

Ian just had to see what the inscription said on the plinth. Unfortunately, it was unreadable.

Having seen all that there was to see it was back to the car and a stop at one of the beaches. Along this part of the coast, shark nets were very much in evidence. We still haven't been for a swim in the sea but I reckon this must be one of the safest bathing spots around. Very surprised that it wasn't packed out with bathers.

Sydney airport was just across the bay and we spent some time chilling out and watching the landing and taking off of the planes.

Returning to Thornleigh we had the first real thunderstorm of our visit. None of the namby-pamby few flashes and rumbles of thunder stuff. No, nearly two hours of spectacular light shows and impressive claps of thunder. One frightened the life out of us all including Neddie the dog. Right overhead, a flash followed immediately by a bang and we thought the end had come!. By the time we went to bed all but the rain was left. It certainly made for a better nights sleep. Cleared the air nicely.

And seen at Botany Bay,

The Jameisons at the Jamisons

Plan today, drive to the Blue Mountains. But we couldn't have chosen a worse day as an overcast grey sky greeted us upon waking. Still, we kept fingers crossed that the conditions would improve. Unfortunately the further up the mountains,  the worse it became with the low cloud obscuring the views at Echo Point. But our hopes were high that a miracle would occur and the clouds would lift. Having found a parking spot and paid $4 for the privilege it didn't look like the miracle was about to happen.

Total wipeout behind us.

Andy had the idea of travelling to Katoomba and taking the boardwalk through the forest in the hope that conditions would improve later. Then as we pulled into the carpark a sudden break in the clouds
revealed the cableway. Now this was a 'must do' but not just the cableway but the steepest railway in the world and a skyway with views across to the Three Sisters.

Sally and big bruv Andy

The steep descent on the railway!!!

Really steep!

Skyway

Having experienced the thrill of the steep railway we did the 2.5k rainforest boardwalk.

Us 'twins' ride off into the distance!

Katoomba Falls

Then the miracle did happen. As we boarded the Cablecar the mist cleared to reveal the Jimson Valley in all its glory.

The three sisters

And to show what the view should have been at Echo Point we went back for a second look.

The same photo but with a view overlooking Jamison Valley.

The Jameisons at the Jimson Valley

Katoomba Cascade

Katoomba Falls seen from the Skyway

On the Skyway the floor suddenly clears to show the view below.

 So it seems miracles do happen and we ended the day with some special memories of a valley almost but not quite named after us.

 And today's wildlife

St Andrews Cross Spider underside and......

Top

Black Cockateel.

Chinese garden and disabled ships.

 It's been a whirlwind few days trying to get as much in before Christmas. Now that the school holidays have begun you can imagine the extra bodies one has to fight through to get anywhere. So heading back into Sydney we opted for the tranquillity of the Chinese Garden. Spending a good two hours just contemplating the meaning of life, feeding the Koa Carp and watching the Ibis. Did you know that Carp here in Oz is a pest? To catch one it has to be disposed of or get a hefty fine. Those fish at the garden were confined and unable to get into any rivers but just think how much they would be worth in the UK. Here you can't give them away!

 It was then a route march back to the Maritime Museum to finish off seeing what we were unable to see a few days ago. One of the main attractions was the British tall ship Tenacious which is a vessel geared up for allowing the disabled to crew.

It's a Titanic moment.

Then from Darling Harbour, we caught the ferry to Circular quays. Much nicer day then when we set off the tall ship lunch cruise.

Bit of a hairy moment when one of the Sydney to Hobart racing yachts motored straight in front of the ferry

Catching the train back to Thornleigh and getting back into the car at the station the temperature gauge registered a hot 41°. That evening we had a storm, very brief but it cleared the air which gave us some relief. At least we could sleep that night.

View from Andy and Sally's balcony.

And the wildlife.....and spiders so beware all you arachnophobic's.