In and Around Sydney

Our British travel agent booked us into Peppers York Fairmont a four star hotel for the first part of a tour through the Blue Mountains, Hunters Valley and Port Stevens. Reading our travel agent’s brochure it seemed a good choice. According to it the hotel sits in a stunning location near the picturesque village of Leura. While true enough we felt abandoned here. The trolleybuses that should have provided transport finished running by late afternoon. If you stay here it is necessary to have a car. We wandered down some of the roads and lanes but found little of interest.

There is a bar, a coffee shop and 2 restaurants serving gourmet cuisine, international buffets and snacks our travel agent’s brochure says. The truth was that no restaurant was even open although a room service was offered. Fortunately we discovered the nearby golf club was serving meals so we managed to eat there.

The hotel is large with 210 accommodation rooms. It claim’s the facilities are so many that they formed a recreation club to help you organise your time. Some of the facilities and recreations listed include:

* archery
* aerobics
* snooker
* golf
* fully equipped gym
* tennis
* squash
* indoor and outdoor swimming pools
* mountain bikes
* bush walks
* child minding can also be arranged
* facial and beauty treatments available
* massage and hydrotherapy facilities

I saw little of this happening. The outdoor pool proved shut, the tennis court was empty and the boating pool had its boats in the car park. Indeed the hotel appeared to have almost shut down for the approaching winter season and few guests remained.

The room proved acceptable. It was clean, comfortable, roomy and tastefully decorated. It had a large chest of drawers, a work table a comfortable chair and a reasonably comfortable double bed. The bathroom proved clean and modern and the full-sized bath a joy to soak in. Facilities include:

Air-conditioning, Alarm clock, TV, Disabled facilities, Hairdryer, Internet access, Iron and ironing board, Minibar, Modem/data port connection, Pay-per-view movies, Radio, Refrigerator, Tea and coffee making facilities, Telephone with voice mail and a Television.

In the morning we found the bill under the door. I took one look at it and slipping quietly out of the room headed for the reception desk. Acting in as business a way as I was able though inwardly seething I invited a detailed breakdown of the bill. As I though they were charging us for a room that was prepaid. Some discussion then took place about whether breakfast had been also prepaid. Here my British travel agent was at fault for the voucher they provided gave little clue. I’m inclined to think it wasn’t but a difference of opinion ensued between staff so we got it free anyway. The breakfast menu did seem expansive: Fruit, cereal, toast, eggs, tomatoes, hash browns, sausages, bacon, baked beans among other things, juices so no criticism here. We had the uncooked option.

Would I come here again? Never! No hotel is perfect but this one has simply expired. A good hotel at one time it now resembles a ghost hotel and the staff have become dispirited. Our travel agent should have sought the opinion of the people running the Blue Mountain tour when deciding which hotels to offer – avoid it!

We had booked a tour through the Blue Mountains, Hunters Valley and onwards to Port Stevens. The tour company picked us up from our hotel in Sydney at 7:30 am for the first part of the trip and after other pick-ups we were finally on our way to the Blue Mountains. Sydney dropped behind and the countryside opened out before us we climbed into the mountains.

Having come from a stay in the state of Victoria it was like a different world here - lush grass and verdant trees everywhere rather than burnt-out pasture. We stopped for a coffee break Australian style in a clearing among the bush. Kangaroos provided entertainment as we knocked back our refreshment.

We stopped at a vantage point and gazed at one of the most stunning views in Australia: the vast Jamieson Valley, with its towering sandstone escarpments, its blue-tinged carpet of eucalyptus trees and its horizon stretching to infinity. The oil from the Eucalyptus trees produces the blue haze above the mountains. The bush is so dense down there that early explorers only managed to struggle through the Blue Mountains by keeping to the peaks.

We continued on our way to see the magnificent Three Sisters rock formation at Katoomba. The Aboriginal dreamtime legend has it that three sisters, ‘Meehni’, ‘Wimlah’ and Gunnedoo’ lived in the Jamison Valley as members of the Katoomba tribe. These beautiful young women had fallen in love with three brothers from the Nepean tribe, yet tribal law forbade them to marry. The brothers were not happy to accept this law and so decided to use force to capture the three sisters causing a major tribal battle. As the lives of the three sisters were seriously in danger, a witch doctor from the Katoomba tribe took it on himself to turn the three sisters into stone to protect them from any harm. While he had intended to reverse the spell when the battle was over, the witch doctor himself died in the battle. As only he could reverse the spell to return the women to their former beauty, the sisters remain in their magnificent rock formation as a reminder of this battle for generations to come.

We had lunch at a lovely country house in Katoomba before visiting Govett’s Leap. Govetts Leap provides a spectacular point to view the Govetts and Grose gorges - the ‘Grand Canyons’ of Australia. The vertical cliffs drop 160 metres, with the floor of the gorge lying over 400 metres below the lookout. In 1846 Travel writer G.C. Mundy wrote of Govetts Leap: "It is certainly one of the grandest freaks of nature I have seen in any country - quite beyond the power of pen or pencil to delineate". Walks signposted from here are: Pulpit Rock, Popes Glen, Horseshoe Falls, Grose Valley Walks.

Unfortunately we did not have time to visit Scenic World. As we were staying rather than making a round trip the plan was to drop us off at our hotel. After booking in we intended taking a trolleybus back and explore Scenic World at our leisure. Unfortunately when we reached our hotel we found the buses were due to stop running for the day so we never did manage to:

* Take a ride on the Skyway with its world first Electro-Sceni Glass Floor.
* Ride the steepest incline Railway in the world down to a lush and hidden valley.
* Stroll along the Walkway through towering Jurassic rainforest.

I somehow feel that we lost out!

Our guide for the next two days, Kate, collected us at 08:00am to take us on the second part of our Blue Mountains, Hunter Valley and Port Stevens trip. Turned out we were the only ones taking the last two parts of the trip - we were getting a personal tour for the price of a group tour. Kate a charming youthful woman was chatty and we soon got to know details of her life. Her father taught indigenous Australian’s English and she had picked up their culture. At an early age she knew more about the Aboriginal Dreamtime than the Christian Religion, which only entered her life later. She was also bright having qualified for university at the age of 14.

At midmorning we stopped at Featherdale Wildlife Park, Sydney's premier wildlife park. Here we wandered around patting and photograph koalas, kangaroos and other native Australian animals. The kangaroos mingled with the visitors like household pets. We saw parrots, little penguins, kookaburras, wombats, egrets, emus, owls, a crocodile, wombats, wallaroos among many others. In the space of an hour or so we had seen a large part of the wildlife of Australia.

Later we stopped for a memorable lunch at the Riverside Brooklyn Restaurant in Brooklyn village. Situated in the top-level of the Hawkesbury River Marina the Restaurant itself has 270 degree water views. Tables that extend the full-length of the balcony allowing patrons to experience the views of the busy Hawkesbury River, as well as seeing the Oyster-Farms the oysters they are eating come from.

Our next stop was the Hunter Valley Chocolate Company. My wife bought some chocolates to bring back with us. It made it as far as the hotel in Sydney. There she placed it in the fridge to keep it from melting. She remembered after we had left for Perth. We hope someone enjoyed them.

Our second stop was the Hunter Valley Smelly Cheese Shop Hall of Food. They offered us a wide selection of cheeses to taste. Not that smelly at all but tasty. We made a further stop at the Oakvale winery, a family business. It dates from 1893, which makes it one of the oldest working wineries in Australia. It produces premium qualities wines but also has a coffee shop, a shop museum and a children’s play area - making it a good family stop. The patron elaborated on the qualities of each wine as I tasted them while trying to look an expert.

In the evening we arrived at our hotel, Peppers Guest house, one of the Hunter Valley's best-loved retreats. Beautiful gardens surround it and vineyards overlook it. In the evening the kangaroos ventured into the gardens. The hotel has an intimate, relaxed atmosphere and many different dining rooms dotted around. The staff proved friendly and the food and wine at the restaurant first-class. Although we were in the main building the hotel has several accommodation choices including the secluded Homestead, a perfect alternative for larger groups. It also has a spa where you can indulge in a massage.

I can highly recommend this hotel.

Our guide Kate collected us at 08:00am to take us on the final part of our Blue Mountains, Hunter Valley and Port Stevens trip - the costal part of our trip. A company called Sand Safaris using a 4 Wheel Drive bus took us to Stockton Beach sand dunes only a short distance from Port Stevens. There are other transport choices available such as quad bike or even horseback.

The Stockton Sand Dunes are one of nature’s true masterpieces. They cover an area of over 2,500 hectares along the 32km long Stockton Beach. Dunes of brilliant white sand climb up to 30 metres high with slopes of up to 60º. They are in constant change and completely transform over time.

Out on the dunes we grabbed a sand board and slogged up a dune with the sand shifting under our feet with each laboured step. Arriving at the top an instructor briefed us how to sit on and control it by using our hands trailing behind as brakes and for steering. I shot down the slope with only one slight correction of course and no braking. I would have enjoyed a repeat go but the slog up acted as a deterrent.

Afterwards we strolled along the beach and took the opportunity to have a paddle. The water seemed cold despite the hot sun overhead. Reaching the car park Kate was awaiting our return and asked if we had enjoyed ourselves. She seemed impressed that we had had a go on the sand boards. Only afterwards did I find out the really brave stand up while they whiz down – none of our group did!

The next part of the tour was a lunch at a restaurant overlooking Port Stephens. I thought it fitting to have mixed seafood and in my case it was a labour of greed to coax the flesh out of the various shells.

Next we joined the Dolphin Magic tour for a cruise around the bay. It contains a large resident population of bottlenose dolphins. With over 20 sandy beaches and the vast Port Stevens Bay this area likes to describe itself as a ‘Blue Water Paradise.

Two dolphins played in the bow wave just under the water as we left the harbour. I tried a photo but came up with only water. The skipper visited all the favourite spots for dolphins and although we saw plenty of fins they just weren’t in a playful mood. On the return journey the crew lowered a boom net into the water at the stern of the ship. Some hardy people in swimsuits got into it and enjoyed being trailed along in the surging water. I just remembered how cold the water had been when we went for a paddle and wondered at their fortitude.

Back on dry land all that remained was the trip back to Sydney. Whizzing along the freeway we soon covered the distance. At one point the heavens opened and torrents of water descended quickly turning the road into a river with cascades also coming down the embankments. Kate remarked cheerfully that it would help the gardens – perhaps a little less might have done I thought privately.

Reaching our hotel Kate gave each of us a big hug. She had enjoyed our company just as we had hers. We got on well together.

This museum, the oldest in Australia is a museum of natural history and anthropology. Its collections cover invertebrate and vertebrate zoology, mineralogy and palaeontology, and anthropology. It also provided a setting for showing and promoting indigenous arts and culture. My interest covered the latter so after a brief look at the other galleries I explored the history of the Indigenous people.

They have occupied Australia for at least 60,000 and possibly as much as 120,000 years. How they reached here is shrouded in mystery but the landmasses were different then which may have made the journey across what is now water easier. On reaching here they evolved with the land, changing it and changing with it. The land to them is not just soil, rocks and minerals but is the core of their spirituality.

Their religion, the Dreaming, has different meanings for different tribes. It is a network of knowledge faith and practices that stems from stories of creation, which controls all spiritual and physical aspects of life. It sets out the structure of society, the rules for social behaviour and the ceremonies performed to preserve the life of the land. In essence the Dreaming comes from the land. With the arrival of the Europeans the Dreaming entered a new phase to take account of the newcomers. It is a powerful living force to the Aboriginals that they nurture and care for.

When European colonists first arrived they found an unfamiliar land occupied by plants, animals and people they didn't understand. They misunderstood the important connection between indigenous Australians and land and thought the land was theirs for the taking. They didn’t realise that if they took for example fish from waters traditionally fished by Aboriginals the indigenous people would expect something back in return. The Aboriginals might therefore help themselves to for instance a cow. The settlers saw this as theft not realising that they themselves were guilty and so conflict grew.

The Europeans in several cases hunted down the Aboriginals. They offered resistance. Pemulwug was the first to do so. Between 1790 and 1802 he waged a guerrilla war on the young colony of New South Wales. Although shot and captured in 1802 others continued the fight.

The whites massacred hundreds of Aboriginals at Waterloo creek in 1837. The year 1838 saw some justice. A court ordered the hanging of seven whites for the murder of several black people at Myall Creek. However Aboriginals died in great numbers from European diseases, poor food and accommodation, ill treatment and sometimes murder.

The newcomers even tried breeding the Aboriginals out of existence by forcing the women to take white men as husbands. The forced separation of children from parents by the Aboriginal Protection Board occurred from the late 1880s until 1969. The Board aimed to bring up the children like white children.

Link -up formed in 1980 worked with Aboriginal adults separated as children from their families. They were the lost generation who lost contact with their roots. States or sectarian institutions for indigenous children or in non-indigenous institutions, foster homes or adoption homes raised many.

Since 1987 the Aboriginals have been gradually winning full title to their traditional lands. 1994 even saw the launch of the anti-racism campaign by the NSW Local Aboriginal Land Council at Sydney Opera House.

One of the great ironies of indigenous history is that the use of indigenous labour aided the steady advances of the pastoral industry and indigenous land. Indigenous stockmen provided valuable bush skills and labour, yet received little for their work.

The sheer contempt that white people had for other cultures I find breathtaking. Charles Darwin’s work On the Origin of Species must have contributed with its ideas on the survival of the fittest. In fact the early attempts to explore Australia were often stupid beyond belief. Something that consulting the indigenous people would have prevented. However such was the contempt that they were held they weren’t originally even classified as people but as fauna.

At first while admiring their art I at first thought them only pretty patterns. Buried deep within them thought is a story some quite complex. Originally they used natural materials such as from the gum tree but they have rapidly caught up with modern methods and now often use acrylics. White painters did not have a feel for Australia and it was Aboriginal painters through their works that truly opened up the red heard of Australia with their expressive paintings.

The tallest building in the Southern Hemisphere Sydney Tower is hard to miss - it resembles a giant steel pole skewering a golden marshmallow. We decided to see what it offered during our brief stay in Sydney. The tower (built 1970-1981) stands 309m high and on clear days the views from the 250-metre observation floor aided by free use of high-powered binoculars allows views over and area extending far beyond Sydney.

The windows stretch from floor to ceiling and slope inwards thus allowing a view straight down. The view is 360 degrees but because of other buildings being in the way the Opera House isn’t visible! Nevertheless the view is breathtaking and you can see for miles.

The harbour, to the north and east can be seen with the buildings lining its quays and the mix of yachts, other sailing craft and powered craft on the water. Manly appears in the further distance. The Harbour Bridge is also just visible past buildings in the view north. Looking South you can see as far as Botany Bay whose failure as a convict settlement led to the establishment of Sydney. The view to the west stretches as far as Paramatta and shows how far the conurbation has sprawled. To the north west the hazy Blue Mountains appear.

Short of taking a scenic flight, a visit to the top of this 1,000-foot golden-turret-topped spike is the best way to see Sydney's spectacular layout. Views from its observation deck encompass the entire Sydney metropolitan area of more than 1,560 square km (600 square miles).

The ticket price includes admission to OzTrek, where seat belts prevent visitors falling-out of their seats as the moving chairs jerk around in front of a 180-degree screen. Personally I didn’t find this a very comfortable experience. On this simulator ride, you white water raft in Queensland, climb Ayers Rock, and have a close meeting with a salt-water crocodile. It's a quick way of getting around - kids love it!

Following this other displays make use of holograms of real people to take visitors to other parts of Australia. By the end of OzTrek the visitor really has trekked over much of Australia while remaining seated.

Don't be too concerned if you feel the building tremble slightly, especially in a stiff breeze - it's natural. The tower is one of the safest constructions in the world and could withstand earthquakes and extreme wind conditions.

Although we didn’t try it I imagine the real adrenaline rush comes from SkyWalk, a guided walk outside and around the golden turret some 880 feet above the city. Harness lines attach walkers to the tower's superstructure and to keep them warm they wear special all-weather suits.

For those who work up an appetite, the building houses two restaurants in the turret. Personally I think holding the contents of my stomach if I tried a Skywalk might be my main concern.

The Sydney Tower is probably as famous a landmark in Sydney as the bridge and the opera house! Sitting on top of the Westfield Centrepoint shopping complex and reaching quite literally for the skies, it is visible right across the city and for miles beyond.