Thursday, September 22, 2016

Sydney Itinerary Day 6 - Cumberland State Forest, Leura Village, Blue Mountains, River Cruise and Fireworks at Darling Harbor

At 8.20 am, hubby and I were waiting in front of YHA building, next to the Central train station. Days before that, I registered for a tour to Blue Mountains at a stall near the Circular Quay Station. After comparing few agents, I thought this was the most suitable one with what I required. We paid AUD$236 for two to the above places (exclude fireworks, which was free of charge).

We filled our stomach with a regular cup of Cappuccino from 7-eleven, our favorite coffee, since it offered the cheapest coffee in town (at AUD$1/cup), and made ourselves a quick sandwich made of sour dough rye bread with ham that we bought a night before.

Morning walk at Cumberland State Forest - Australia

The driver cum tour guide drove around the town picking up the rest of the participants before heading to the Koala park. Those who chose to enter the park (by paying additional fee), would enter and see the Australian wildlife animals. The rests who chose not to (including us), were brought to Cumberland State Forest for a short distance walk. The trails were not long. It just took us less than half an hour to walk through it. The place was filled with Eucalyptus trees, growing very high up to the sky. Many birds were detected too filled the place with their sounds. What a calm and beautiful morning to spend with!!! :)

Beautiful spring flowers :)

Nearby the area, there was a shop selling potted plants and its equipment. There were many beautiful spring flowers for sale too! If I were to stay there, my hubby would have bought many of them and plant them back home. Too bad! We could only take the photos with it and record in at the back of our memory :)

Short break next to Nepean River

When time's up, we fetched the rest back from the Koala park, and we were brought to the Nepean River. The driver provided us with juices and cookies.

Picnic lunch at Leura Village :)

In a while, the journey continued. We were brought for an early lunch at Leura Village. Many went into the restaurants available at the site. However, hubby and I chose to sit at one of the bench and had picnic :) We brought fresh salad with roasted sesame dressing and had it again with the bread, ham, and cheese. The air was cool and quite windy but it did not stop us from the picnic :D Just loved to have the simple meal (simplicity was the best!!!) ;)

The beautiful Three Sisters from Echo Point - Blue Mountains, Australia

Finally, we were brought to the Echo Point where we could see the beautiful Three Sisters. Those who chose to pay for the Aboriginal show, were brought to the site (Waradah Aboriginal Theatre).

3 Scenic rides plus scenic walkway at Blue Mountains - Australia :)

After it was over, we all went to take the 3 scenic rides, which was Scenic Skyway (Australia's highest cable car), Scenic Cableway (Australia's biggest cable car), and Scenic Railway (the steepest incline passenger carrying railway in the world), plus the Walkway - where our tour guide explained to us more about the area, the animals, the plantations, and so on.

Watching beautiful sunset from Fantasea River Cruise - Sydney, Australia

After that, our tour was ended. We were driven back to Sydney Olympic Park, and stopped at the harbor there to take our river cruise by Fantasea. I did not expect that it turned up to be the best part of the tour where we could finally see the sunset view from the back of our boat. Oh man... it was simply marvelous!!!

Beautiful houses along seaside - Sydney, Australia

We could see many mansion and beautiful houses along the seaside, where many would even have their own yacht waiting at their doorstep. Many riches stayed there obviously! Just could not stop admiring its beauty!!!

Beautiful night view in Sydney from river cruise :)

The evening sky turned into dark as the sun went down and we were able to see the night view of the Sydney Opera House, Harbor Bridge, and also Darling Harbor, where we stopped.

Our last night dinner in Sydney :)

We had dinner at the Hard Rock Cafe, just the two of us. The appetizer plate alone was enough for both of us plus a glass of local draft beer. It tasted like heaven :P


Just nice after that, the fireworks were going to start!!! It was displayed weekly every Saturday at 8.30 pm. Wow!!! It was displayed beautifully with many varieties!

Messina at the Star :)

When it's over, we decided to keep walking to the Star - the Casino in Sydney city, just few minutes walk from the Darling Harbor. Both of us went inside the Casino to see how it looked like. After that, we headed to Messina to have the delicious Gelato again :D This time I chose Macadamia and Italian Nougat. Hmmm... nyummy!!! 2 scoops at AUD$6.80 :)

My hosts in Sydney :) Thank you all of you! :)

We went back using the light rail then train. As the light rail went by, we slowly said goodbye to the beautiful city. That would be our last night there in Sydney. It had wrapped our night beautifully and perfectly. I had no idea when would I return again but for sure, this time, we were really blessed with perfect weather this Spring, perfect accompanies, meeting wonderful people that I had not met for long, delicious food from everywhere,, and not forgetting our hosts - Hadi and Virny - who had allowed us to stay at their home for the past one week there. Thank you, thank you, and thank you everyone for everything!!! We felt very grateful and thankful. Without your help and presence, our trip would mean nothing. Thank you to my sister who had come accompanying us for the first few days of our stay there. Thank you everyone!!! :)

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