This was my first trip to Australia and we all know it takes a long flight to get there. Linna (my wife) and I flew Delta down to Los Angeles from Seattle and then onto Sydney, Australia. Due to strong tail winds our flight from LA to Sydney was less than 13 hours, not bad for 7,500 miles. Going through customs was a breeze, we might have spent a total of five minutes. After only a 5 minute wait at customs, we took the train from the airport to our hotel which was surprisingly very easy and only a two minute walk to our hotel. We were way too early to check in so we headed off to Chinatown and had Dim Sum at the Emperor’s Garden Restaurant www.emperorsgarden.com.au that was just a few blocks away from our hotel.

After checking in and a needed nap we were off to the famous Sydney Opera House www.sydneyoperahouse and Harbor Bridge for a few tourist pictures. We ended up buying tickets to La Soiree a sexy circus cabaret type vaudeville show for the next night at the Opera House, it was fun and naughty…right down my alley. Next day was a ferry boat ride across the bay to the famous Taronga zoo; this place was actually entertaining and fun with every type of reptile, mammal and sea life imaginable.

We spent 2 ½ days in Sydney which we feel is enough time for any city in the world. We drove South from Synday along the beautiful East coast for a ½ day until we hit the town of Bega and then drove Eastward toward the Blue Mountains. We stopped and hiked along the 3 sisters peaks via the Grand Stairway which consisted of 900 staircase steps. Our drive and day ended up to be a much longer then I wanted after driving 400 miles. We finally stopped for the night in a small village of Crackenback for the night Linna found this cool little hotel along the beautiful Alpine road called The Farm. This place was an old sheep shearing barn converted into a spa/resort. www.crackenback.com

After a hearty breakfast we headed off to knock off one of the seven summits or at least the highest peak in Australia, Mount Kosciuszko. This was easily done by starting at the Threadbo ski area and taking the ski lift up to the main trail. This trail mainly consist of 5 foot wide steel mesh that protects the plants and vegetation from the 100,000 people that makes this trek yearly. It was warm enough to wear shorts to the summit, but cool enough to trick your sense of putting on sunscreen. Both of our legs from our knees down were burn…not smart! We had a perfect day with gorgeous views with warn and sunny weather. With a sense of accomplishment we headed to our next destination, Wodonga. It was the biggest city along our route that we felt we could find a decent hotel and restaurant for the night.
More to come…..