Bye Bye Sydney Friday 2/29/08

There is a touch of stress this morning as we have to be back in driving mode again, but it is always easier leaving than arriving. At least we get up to patches of blue sky and cool temps. We come out almost even on cereal, fruit and yogurt which is nice, and get everything crammed back into a minimal amount of bags. We are ready to head out for the mile walk to Hertz at about 10:00 AM and suddenly there is another downpour. This has been the rainiest year in Sydney of the last twenty and we are getting our share of the experience. It doesn’t last long and it is a fresh walk across town.

The car is ready, we make it back safely, and Mary once again guards the car in the no parking/no stopping zone while John does the heavy lifting. It is actually easy getting out of town and we are on our way to Paramatta, the town we could not take the ferry to yesterday. Paramatta is the first colonial settlement in this area and we expect to find a little New England style village with quaint old buildings and cutesy tea rooms. It is actually a big city and a huge Sydney suburb so our vision is dashed once again. We snare a parking place in the middle of the business district and, as we are starting to walk away in search of lunch, Mary picks up on the 30-minute parking sign. That defines lunch as Subway, which is right in front of us, followed by a seven minute walk around the block. We weren’t that excited about Paramatta anyway.

We continue west through some lovely distant burbs and begin to wind our way up into the Blue Mountains. This is prime Sydney weekend get-away country where folks come for ten-degree cooler temps and clean air. We make an interim stop in Leura, a charming little village well into the mountains with hip little shops and restaurants. It is easily recognizable as a ritzy weekend get-away, and we spend a few minutes in the basement of a wine shop that has thousands of dusty bottles of Aussie wine dating back 25 years. Just a few dollars in inventory.

A few more miles and we arrive in Katoomba, our new home for two nights. This is bigger than Leura and more of a real city. Our B&B, Lurline House, is a ten minute walk from Echo point and the Three Sisters, one of the big visuals in this area. After checking in we stroll down to see what all the excitement is about and the views are indeed breathtaking. The Three Sisters are three vertical columns rising up from the bottom of a 1000 foot deep valley right in front of us with miles of mountains and cliffs as a backdrop. It is very late afternoon and the low sun adds to the effect.

We snoop around at a couple restaurants and pick a combo art gallery/restaurant for tonight and book a table for 7:30. They are strictly BYO so we wander into the business district and pick up some wine for tonight and other emergencies. At the restaurant there are two guys in the kitchen, one, Barry, an Irish chef transplanted to Sydney and the other, David, a Sydney actor turned chef. Mary orders the beef fillet and John has the duck and we share a smoked salmon terrine appetizer. The food is good, not great, but the place is nice and we’re pleased with the experience. David the actor must have cooked our meals.

We can tell we’re in the mountains as we walk back to our room freezing. No, not like home, but cold nonetheless. Good sleeping weather.

Today's local headline: Lunch with minister only $5100 Sydney Morning Herald (government trying to curb politcal contributions)