Day 3: Blue Mountains

Our final day in Sydney was filled with a bus tour through the Blue Mountains and surrounding area. We were picked up at the hotel and entered a bus full of tourists who all had the same look on their faces (that Keevin and I probably shared); excitement and uncertainty mingled together to form an expression that said “I’m not in control right now and although I have an itinerary, I don’t really know what to expect.” There was an anticipatory edge to the air that smacked of adventure and discovery; I had little sleep the night before but became instantly buzzed in a way my two coffees prior hadn’t managed.

The ice wasn’t broken but shattered by our tour guide Steve (or Steve-o as per our education on Australian name adaptation) as he began cracking jokes (think dingo mating with a wombat to birth a “dingbat”… corny Aussie comedy at it’s finest!) that had everyone smiling with the assurance that indeed, today was going to be fun. His dry and slightly sardonic humour was tempered by educational trivia about everything from the eco-system to aboriginal art; he was fantastic and helped us feel like, “Yes, we are the most touristy of tourists but we don’t need to feel bad about selling our first-born for a picture of us feeding kangaroos.”

Once we left downtown Sydney, our first stop was the Featherdale Wildlife Park where we were allowed to get up close and personal with some of Australia’s best-known wildlife; kangaroos, koalas, and wallabies (oh my!) among many others. It was all ooh’s and ah’s as we entered the enclosure boasting over 2000 species of local wildlife and immediately saw little wallabies freely hopping about all over the place. I was instantly reverted back to feeling 6 years old with a powerful urge to grab one of them up in my arms, squeeze him, hug him, kiss him, and call him ‘George’… then smuggle him off to keep as a pet forever. Fortunately, I do possess a modicum of restraint and managed to let my better judgment rule out the aforementioned possibility.

Everyone knows how much I love animals (you know, with the whole refusal to eat them and all) so I really did light up as I pet a koala, fed a kangaroo, got giddy over a wombat (they are SO much cuter than I thought they would be from their name), and marvelled over a dingo. When I hear of dingoes, immediately I think of the line, “A dingo ate my baby!” (from “A Cry in the Dark” with Meryl Streep) and the image of a pack of dirty-yellow, salivating, mangy, Cujo-like hounds of hell comes to mind. So I was surprised by how beautiful, proud, and almost majestic I found the dingoes to appear when I saw them live.

We left Featherdale and drove to a breathtaking lookout that boasted an incredible view of not only the Blue Mountains (so named for the molecules of eucalyptus oil that dissipate into the air creating a bluish haze across the valley) but also Wentworth Falls. After a butt-burning hike down to the viewpoint and back up, we drove to a place called Scenic World (and yes, it is an entire world of scenery) where we viewed a famous rock formation known as The Three Sisters. They also had a glass-bottom sky tram I rode before heading down to the valley floor on the world’s steepest railway where I then walked through the temperate rainforest before riding back up the mountain on another sky tram that was made me think of what it must be like for Glinda the Good Witch bobbing along in her transportation bubble. Keevin isn’t a fan of heights so I went this portion alone, but I didn’t mind.

We left Scenic World and stopped at another awe-inspiring viewpoint for afternoon tea and an impromptu didgeridoo-playing lesson (I was the only one in our group successful at producing anything near the intended sound, thankyouverymuch). Exhausted, we were driven back to Sydney to catch a boat from the Olympic Park, site of the 2000 Olympic Games, which was very cool. We cruised down the Paramatta River, under the Harbor Bridge and back into the Circular Quay as the sun set on the first leg of our Australian adventure. What a full and incredible day!

I believe there is a spiritual purpose in every journey we take and I believe that my purpose for coming to Australia is many-fold and that each leg of the trip will reveal a different truth for me to take back. My time in Sydney reminded me to appreciate the moment for what it was even if it wasn’t what I planned. I was also reminded that even in the best laid of plans, there is always an unforeseen caveat to explore and discover. I can sum all of that up in one statement: Just when you think you understand something, you find that you really don’t and if you’re very lucky, you’ll be delighted by that fact.