blue mountains.

on our first full day in sydney, we decided to catch the train to the blue mountains.  the blue mountains are a 2 hour train ride from the circular quay (downtown Sydney train and ferry stop).   when we arrived in katoomba, we hopped on a sightseeing tour bus to take us to the best places to see the blue mountains and the 3 sisters peaks.

we took a cable car across the mountains and saw this water fall and, on the other side of the cable car, some great views of the mountains.

then we took this super steep roller coaster type thing down to the middle of the mountain.

we took a little stroll and learned there used to be a coal mine in the middle of the blue mountains.  i can't believe that people used to work here in the middle of a mountain and the middle of the rain forest.   pretty amazing.

then we took a 5 mile stroll around the rain forest.

we even found some coal that must have fallen while transporting the coal from the mine many a year ago.

and since we were in the jungle it only made sense for us to do a little "monkeying" around!  ha!

this just makes me laugh.

after our little hike we headed back up to the top of the mountain on another cable car.

we were STARVING from all our walking, so we stopped at a little restaurant to enjoy a hot meal and a bottle of wine.  all with the view of a lifetime!

our bus tour guide actually told us an interesting story about a passenger he had on his bus one time. the passenger traveled to australia to see the blue mountains from germany, and on that particular day, the fog was too thick to be able to see anything.  the bus driver said you could barely see even 3 feet in front of the bus.  apparently, the passenger seemed more upset than one would expect about this unfortunate weather; so, the tour guide told him that things like this happen and the weather here is very unpredictable.  and the guy from germany looked at him and said, "you don't understand.  this is my third time traveling here, all the way from germany, to see the blue mountains and every time the weather has been just like this."  needless to say, we felt pretty fortunate that we had such a beautiful day to enjoy each other and our surroundings.

the lookout was really nice and provided some great views of the mountains and the 3 sisters peaks.  the three sisters are made of sandstone and there used to be 6 sisters, but the others have eroded away.

after that, we took the tour bus over to leura cascades.

at the end of the trail we got an amazing view of the side of this mountain.  photos don't do it justice because it was majestic.

the tour bus dropped us off at the little town of leura.  it was such a cute town and definitely worth seeing.  i only wish we had gotten there sooner because some of the shops looked adorable.  probably better for the wallet, though.

after a long day of amazing sightseeing, we hopped back on the train for our 2 hour ride back to sydney.  it was yet another fabulous australian day.

it's only been 7 months.

and i have finally made it to sydney, australia!!!  who would have thought it would take me this long to see, what i think, is the epitome of australia - the sydney opera house??

my parents and i headed there during the week while jim was working.  we spent 2 whole and 2 half days there and i can describe sydney in one word - charming!  that might sound unenthusiastic, but i felt like i was in europe... though i haven't been to europe.  it's just what i think it would be like.  but i really really loved how charming this city is.  if i could pick one place to live in australia it would be here, for sure.

anyway, we had half a day in sydney by the time our flight got there so we headed to our hotel first.  we got the multi-pass at the airport so we took the train to circular quay (the train and ferry station) and then started walking to our hotel.  big mistake.  we had no idea where we were going and my phone map soon got us pretty turned around.  fortunately, some super nice locals saw us and offered to help.  and when i say "offered to help" the guy actually ended up giving us a ride to our hotel.  how nice is that??  we were forever grateful as we were walking around the city with all of our luggage.

we finally made it to our hotel - the sebel on pier one.  i loved this hotel.  it's just my style so i snapped a few photos:

the hotel is actually a pier that was renovated into a hotel so it sits over the water.  this is a glass floor so you could see down to the water!

after checking in we headed to lunch at a bar at the end of pier #4 (our hotel was on pier #1 so you can get an idea of how this worked).  these pier buildings are so cool.  they are all old warehouses that have been renovated.  this one had restaurants and a huge dance studio in it.  

after lunch, we headed over to darling harbor on the ferry (used our multi pass) and went to the sydney aquarium.  they are known for their shark display and i have to say it's pretty amazing.  here are some photos:

this is a shark from the open-air top of the shark tank.  meaning, if one were to lean over too far you could actually fall into the shark tank!!!  pretty cool; if i do say so myself.

after viewing the marine life from above, you head down into a tunnel where you can see more detail.

yup, that's a great white... look at those teeth!!!

please don't ever let me run into one of these in person without being in a cage or something...

i took the following pictures for my best friend amanda's son, max.  he is obsessed with finding nemo and this is a photo of the doctor (i don't remember his name, but i am sure max does).

and here is nemo and his dad...

and here is nemo and dori; together!!!

when jim, my dad, and i went scuba diving at the great barrier reef, we did see a shark.  the picture below is the kind of shark we saw.  it really looks more like a giant sucker fish than anything.

the aquarium was definitely the best one i have ever seen.  i enjoyed it immensely.

we ended the day with drinks and dinner at one of the restaurants in darling harbour - i don't remember the name, but they had the best mojitos!!  yay, sydney!!