Sydney Trip

Recently we went for a short trip to NSW. We booked a serviced apartment in The Quest, World Square in the CBD. Despite some negative reviews on the Net, we were very happy with the location and quality of the accomodation and thankfully, no charges for unused minibar items!

For lunch, we went to Din Tai Fung in World Square to taste their famous xiao long bao. We also ordered their crab dumplings and drunken chicken. The skin on both dumplings were so delicate and they taste delicious.

I wanted to try every restaurant but of course, we had limited stomach space. We did try Gumshara Ramen, which was recommended as authentic Japanese ramen. The pork bone broth has been boiled for a long period of time till it becomes thick and milky. It was delicious, but towards the end of the meal it became quite salty. I still think that the best ramen we ever had was our first meal in Japan.... I wish we had seconds, but that time we did not have enough ramen eating experience to compare.

We did the obligatory visit to Sydney Opera House where I had booked two seats in a classical music concert. Just so we can experience the inside of the Opera House as well as the outside... Gaz took the opportunity to get some sleep during the concert...! We also wandered into the Contemporary Art Museum. I did not think it will be my cuppa tea but surprisingly, I liked most of the art displayed. There was a large Lego 'canvas' where pieces of Lego were assembled to look like a piece of abstract oil painting which I really liked.

The next day, we took the train to Katoomba. We bought a $50 Trolley Bus discovery tour. The ticket entitled us to hop on and of the bus at any one of the tourist points, and a one way ride on all the Scenic World rides in the Blue Mountains.

Scenic World is a private enterprise run by a family who has been in the Blue Mountains since the end of the mining days (coal used to be mined in the area). They turned the mine trolley into a passenger train ride, and added a cable car ride with views of the Jamison Valley, Wentworth Falls, and Three Sisters. There is also a skyway ride and a walkway.

The most enjoyable part of the Scenic World for us was the boardwalk. The boardwalk meanders through the floor of the forest, pointing to disused mining equipment still stranded on the forest floor at parts of the walk. We saw a lyre bird (this bird can mimic noises it hears from its surroundings, even camera sounds!), various species of trees and this particular magpie... I was so hungry from all the walking that I was eating a bacon roll we'd brought along with us. This clever magpie followed us during our walk, hoping to get a bite!

After the rides, we went for a two hour bush walk where we saw beautiful, expansive views of The Three Sisters (above) and the Jamison Valley. The walk was not easy and we were the only ones on the trail, which made me a little nervous... especially since the trolley bus driver told us that certain parts of the walk has been closed off due to falling rock danger.

The walk eventually led us to Leura Falls (below) where we cooled ourselves  and boarded the last trolley bus back to the town centre and took the train home.

I was very grateful that we had the time to go for a short trip to refresh ourselves and opened our eyes to beautiful Mother Nature. I thoroughly enjoyed our trip.