Russ and Jan's World Cruise: February 16, 2023 - Sydney

For anyone posting comments on the blog, they come to us as “anonymous”. Please add at least your name and maybe email, and I may be able to respond. THANKS!

Wednesday, February 16, 2023 – Sydney – Day 1

A beautiful sail-in this morning to Sydney Harbor. Sailing between the two main headlands was done before the sun was up, but still dramatic.

North Head

A suburb of Sydney

Harbor Bridge

An interesting waterside neighborhood

Passing under Harbor Bridge

We are off this morning on an all-day tour that was negotiated for us by Andy Patterson. He was supposed to be with us but had to cancel his cruise due to family health issues. There were 37 of us that had signed up for this tour. We had two vans and two driver-guides. We were part of a group of 17 and had “Adam” as our guide. We were laughing with him before the van pulled away from the cruise dock. We had become “The Adam’s Family” complete with the jingle.

We immediately headed for the hills to the west of Sydney. Adam was quite knowledgeable and was pleased to share as much of his knowledge as he could. A while into the tour, we pulled off the highway for a comfort stop and about 15 minutes of wandering among the shops of a quaint little town. Back in the van and we headed to our first scenic outlook of the 3 Sisters and Jamison Valley. While we were taking in those sites, Adam purchased our tickets for “Scenic World”.

3 Sister Rock Formation

Jamison Valley

Scenic World is a sort of amusement park. There are 3 “rides” and a Scenic Walkway. All turned out to be extremely worthwhile. We first took their Skyway which gave unobstructed views over the Jamison Valley and a very dramatic view of Katoomba Falls. Once off the Skyway at the top of the cliff, we headed for our next experience which was a Scenic Railway that drops you from the top of the cliff down into the Jamison Valley at a 52-degree angle. The steepest railway in the world. The ceiling of the railcar is glass, and you have an amazing view of the forest around you. Once off the railcar (the ride didn’t last nearly long enough for us) we headed out on a series of wooden walkways that wind through the forest.

Katoomba Falls

3 Sisters from the Skyway

View through the ceiling of the rail car

A fun ride down that didn't last long enough

Train heading up the hill after we got off

The trails had information plaques and Adam filled in a lot of details. One of the exhibits was in an area that used to be a coal mine. Now an exhibit area. Being in the forest made for a pleasant walk in the shade. It was a warm day and if we had been out in the sun, we would have been uncomfortable. After spending quite a bit of time with Adam in the forest, we went back up to the cliff top via a cable car that is canted so that the passengers all have a great view out over the Jamieson Valley.

Stats for the rail car

What you can do at Scenic World

The cable car getting ready to go up

Anthracite Coal

A vein of coal. This area used to be a coal mine.

We all enjoyed our time at Scenic World immensely. By the time we finished up we were all ready for lunch. We headed to a nearby restaurant where our lunch had been pre-arranged. In our group there were 15 waigu hamburgers and 2 chicken schnitzel. The burgers looked quite good, and I thoroughly enjoyed the schnitzel.

The next viewpoint was a bit of a walk, but the view was well worth the hike.

Another view of the Jamison Valley

We headed back into Sydney with a stop at a zoo that has only Australian critters. Adam said it was an older zoo, but because it features only critters from Australia, the local guides rather liked it. We were given tickets and about an hour to explore on our own. Although it was fun to see numerous koalas and some kangaroos as well as many many birds, monitor lizards and even penguins, we were disappointed in the conditions. It was quite warm, and many animals had no shade available. The croc had only a few inches of water available.