Tracy Carolyn Photography

It seems that people go missing in bush of the Blue Mountains with some frequency.  Before we arrived, our hosts in Sydney warned us not to go for a bush walk without telling someone where we were heading.  As we checked into our hostel in Katoomba, the friendly front desk clerk gave us the same warning.  She then showed us a newspaper article about a guy who had gone out into the bush (armed only with 2kilos of potatoes, naan bread and a few matches), and gotten lost for three days.  She also pointed out the stuffed teddy bear on display, which had been a gift from another traveler thanking the hostel for sending the police after her when she didn’t come back after a day.
We had no interest in getting lost in the bush for days on end, so we decided to just do a very tame, very well marked walk through the Prince Henry Valley and out to Echo Point.  It was a lovely early afternoon walk, one which provided lovely views without requiring us to give our information to the local police station.  And even though we were only planning to be gone for an hour or two, we still had better provisions than raw potatoes and naan.  That guy must have been an idiot.
We did not get lost, and no authorities had to go after us.  As a bonus, we missed the worst bush fire conditions in decades by just one day.  The day after our trip the temperature and winds were priming the area for some serious fires.  News crews were standing by, just waiting to see everything go up in flames.  Glad we got out when we did.After our full day in Katoomba, it was time to leave Australia.  I can’t say we were entirely sad to see it go.  While there is a ton to do in this massive country, we felt tapped out by the expense of it all.  And since Australia is largely like the US in many, many ways, it wasn’t as much fun as the other places we’ve been.  Instead, it kind of felt like we were back at home but without the good stuff, like family and friends.

So we set off for another epic day of travel on our way to Indonesia.  Maybe now “Land Down Under” will stop running on a nonstop loop through my brain…

Fish kinda creep me out.

Whenever we are swimming in the ocean or a lake and I see something swimming around me, John has to start saying the little mantra “Be with the fish” to remind me not to get freaked out.  Sometimes it works.  Sometimes I just head for dry land.

So while I’m a little sad we aren’t going to make it to the Great Barrier Reef while we are in Australia, a part of me is relieved.  The experience of snorkeling or diving on the reef would be amazing, but I’m not sure how well I’d do with all those fish swimming around en masse.  Viewing them at the Sydney Aquarium is a much more laid back experience. Plus, I can actually take photos.  Sweet.

Added bonus:  No need to fear the crazy glow in the dark jellyfish.  These look like X-rays of jellyfish, but this is just how they look swimming around in the dark.Two more things I would not want to see in the real world, but look cool at the aquarium – sharks and lion fish.
This shark is definitely creepy.Yup, it’s much easier to “be with the fish” when there is a layer of glass between us.

Ever since we landed in Sydney the song “Land Down Under” from Men at Work has been circling through my head on an endless loop.  It’s very annoying.  And it only gets worse when the word Vegemite comes up (“He just smiled and gave me a vegemite sandwich”…don’t act like you don’t know all the words, too.)

I remember trying Vegemite in elementary school, for some odd reason, and thinking it was gross.  Probably because they just smeared a blob of it on a cracker and fed it to us.  I now know that this is not the correct way to serve Vegemite.  Made from brewers yeast, Vegemite has a salty, savory flavor.  A little goes a long way, so it’s no wonder a blob of it would not impress an eight year old.

Tatiana schooled us on how to properly eat Vegemite, and now John and I have come to really like it.  It’s served as a breakfast food, spread onto toast that is topped either with melted cheese or a poached egg.  I prefer the melted cheese version.  John has taken to spreading a thin layer on his sandwiches, as well.  The little jar we purchased will probably last us for the rest of World Tour (it really doesn’t take much.)  I don’t mind carrying it along with us when we leave Australia, so long as the Men at Work song doesn’t keep playing in my head every time I see it.

It’s a really annoying song.

Sydney goes all out for New Year’s Eve.  We hemmed and hawed about going into the city to watch the fireworks, and finally decided that you can’t be in Sydney on December 31st and not go.  So we packed a picnic, hopped on the bus, and went to one of the free viewpoints.

I wish I had some spectacular photo of the fireworks and the harbor all lit up for NYE.  I do not.    Between the loads of trees, crowds of people, and impossibility of holding a camera steady for a slow shutter without being bumped by a drunk person, this was the best shot I could get.  The blip of fireworks in the corner is only a warning shot that the show would start in 10 minutes.  It’s weak.  Go here to see good ones other people took that actually show how spectacular the harbor looks when it is all lit up.

Most of the views from the park we chose were obscured by trees – which is probably why they don’t charge you to go there.  Other places on the harbor with the more open and sweeping views charge $100 per person for the right to a square of grass from which to watch the show.  While I don’t doubt the view is better than what we saw, I could argue that we got 75% of the effect at a fraction of the cost.  Instead of paying $200 for the spot and then having to buy concessions, we opted for the free park, brought all our own food, and didn’t buy any booze.  Combined with taking advantage of the free public transit after midnight, we actually got away with only spending a total of $3.60  for our entire night (just bus fare to get to the park in the morning.)  Cheapest New Year’s Eve I’ve had in years.

Granted, we spent most of the day waiting.  We left the house at 9:40am, caught the bus to arrive at the park at 10:35am, and waited in line for 2 hours to get into the park (They limit attendance to 17,000 people to this location and people get there as early to get a “good spot,” though I overheard one guy saying he arrived at 7:30am and he didn’t get one of these “good spots.”  There must be 50 of them in the whole park.)  We then spent the rest of the day waiting for the show to start.

If World Tour has taught us anything, it’s how to pass time – and it’s usually in more cramped and uncomfortable places than a blanket in the park.  We picnicked, played cards, read, listened to an NPR podcast, and hid from the sun under our umbrellas. Between the 9pm fireworks display and midnight, we even took a nap in the park, snuggled up on our blanket in the middle of the crowd.

It was a long day, but the midnight show was totally worth it.  Locals we met last week suggested we just watch the show on TV rather than wasting a day waiting for it live.  We were so tempted to take their advice, but I’m incredibly glad we didn’t take the easy way out.  The view you get on TV is probably pretty amazing, but nothing compares to the sensory overload of being completely surrounded by fireworks as they shoot off from the Harbor Bridge, the skyscrapers, and five barges on the water to light up the entire harbor with explosions.  It was spectacular.  The most impressive displays were on the bridge itself, something completely unique to Sydney that we couldn’t see anywhere else.

Ironically, even though I didn’t have a drop of alcohol, I still woke up feeling hungover on New Year’s Day.  I guess several hours of sitting in the sun will dehydrate you enough to feel a bit rough the next day.  Still worth it.

Happy 2013!