Australia 2009 - days 72 to 81 at Blue Mountains and Hunter Valley

Day 72.
Arrive in Blackheath, The Blue Mountains and its wet, wet, wet. Spend the day setting up camp and then watching videos in our tent.

Day 73.
Wake up to better weather but its still too wet to climb so we visit Echo Point in Katoomba to do some bush walking.

The Three Sisters at Echo Point.














A view of the valley seen from Echo point.













Day 74 & 75.
Beautiful weather so we head out to Mount York to a family friendly trad crag on both days.

On one of these mornings we took Sofie to a playground adjacent to our Campervan Park in Blackheath. Sofie had her first swing which she truly enjoyed as shown on the picture and video below.























Sofie swinging.

Sofie gets thirsty at the crag, but we had not brought a baby-bottle for her. However, it turned out that we didn't need one as she could drink from our water bottle!

Sofie drinking from a water bottle.

Dad climbing.















It is now getting dark very early (6 pm) due to daylight savings, as soon as the sun sets temperatures drop and in this photo Sofie is wearing mums fleece.

















Mum climbing in the last rays of light.





















Sofie enjoying a good bottle of water and trying to make a phone call whilst relaxing in a camp chair












Day 76.
We head out to check out the spectacular view only minutes from our campsite at Govetts leap and then climb at Mount Piddington.

Govetts leap.







Mum & Sofie after the climb at Mount Piddington.











Day 77.
We check out the view at Evans point and then climb at 'Zig Zag crag' on what turns out to be the last day of sunshine in the Blue Mountains.

View from Evans lookout.














The next three photos are of dad, mum & unknown climber climbing 'Giggles' at 'Zig zag crag'.



























































Day 78.
We here that there are chances of showers so choose to do a three hour walk from Echo Point to Scenic Railway and then back to Echo Point. We all get quite wet but luckily Sofie sleeps through most of the walk.

Dad & Sofie walking down the 'Giant steps'





















Dad at the Scenic railway with the Three sisters seen behind him.














Mum & Sofie in front of Katoomba cascades.














Day 79. Sofie is 8 months old.
It is still raining so we drive to visit the limestone Jenolan caves. There are nine public caves and we visit 'Lucas cave'.

Mum & Sofie in 'The Cathedral, Lucas cave'..........




















..... the caves were low in places so mum had to carry
Sofie's backpack on her chest which made going down steps challenging.









Mum & Sofie.




















In the next six photos one can see the beautiful limestone formations in the Lucas cave.


























































































Dad & Sofie standing outside 'Devils chambers'.













Sofie standing head to head with dad in the cafe.





















...... & a big smile from Sofie who thoroughly enjoyed her day.














We later did a self-guided tour through 'Nettle cave'

The view from the top of Nettle cave.





















Dad & Sofie standing on the road that runs through Devils chambers. Jenolan caves are the only limestone caves in the world that have a road running through them.

















Day 80.
It's still raining and we can't climb so we decide to take a ride in the Zig zag steam train in Clarence.

Mum & Sofie have boarded the train.













The engine arriving at the station getting ready to attach to the other end of the carriages.










Mum & Sofie having a look at the coal being fed into the train engines' furnace.











A view of the viaduct that the train runs over.













A view of the engine seen from above.





















Mum & dad bought Sofie a souvenir t-shirt which she is modeling here.



















A nice photo of the train.













That afternoon we visit one of Sofie's other uncles in Leura and her cousin Cyan.
We celebrate Cyan's third birthday with him. he turned three 2 months ago but we were in Tasmania at that stage. I think Cyan enjoyed having 2 birthdays this year.

Cyan blowing out his candles.





















Cyan & Sofie having a tumble on the floor.














Day 81.
It's still raining so we decide to visit The beautiful Hunter Valley to do a little more wine tasting (& buying :)).

The first winery we visit is the Rosemount/Lindemanns winery which had been recommended by Hans' brother-in-law.










Mum & Sofie outside the winery.













A family photo, Sofie was keen for a taste of the very nice wines!!














Dad enjoying a taste of Rosemount, Balmoral wine which we purchased and put into storage ready for our next trip downunder.


















Our next stop was visiting a winery which was a conglomeration of all the small vineyards in the area.

The vineyards.















Dad & Sofie waiting for wine to be poured.




















We had a long drive back to the blue mountains so only visited three vineyards. Our last stop was thus Peppertree vineyards.

Mum & Sofie outside the vineyard which had a definite New England feel to it.












Sofie in a barrel waiting for mum & dad to finish tasting wine.













Previous posts.

Australia 2009 - days 65 to 71 at Nowra and Jervis Bay

Day 65.
We check into our campsite, set up our tent and head out to Hospital Rocks to climb.

Dad climbing with Sofie in her stroller and the Shoalhaven River in the background.













Sofie trying on mums helmet.





















Sofie has started to "talk" and says "MaMa, MaMa, MaMa" all the time. Very funny, but given that we do not call Elvira for MaMa we do not think that it means Mother, but its just her exercising different sounds...

A video of Sofie saying her new MaMa sound.

Day 66.
We climb at Thomsons point, Shoalhaven River.

Dad leading .......





















.......... and mum leading her first route since she broke her foot climbing in France 2 years ago.



















Day 67.
We climb in the morning and then head out to beautiful Jervis Bay.

The view of Point Perpendicular seen from Iluka beach.





Mum and Sofie on the beach near Green patch.















A beautiful (& friendly) Grass Parrot, these birds are wild but one actually landed on mums head.












Sunset on Murray's beach.















Day 68.
We head to Point Perpendicular to check out potential climbs.

The light house at the point.














A view down to the base of the climbs. To climb this crag one needs to rappel down, something mum didn't want to do with Sofie.










We also walked toward the torpedo remains which was very steep going as can be seen in this photo where mum pushes Sofie up hill in her stroller.



















Dad and Sofie with a beautiful view in the background.













Sunset at Honeymoon beach.














Day 69.
Due to rainy weather we decide to do a drive to Fitzroy Falls passing through the lush Kangaroo Valley.

The view of the coast seen from Charlotte's pass.













A Kookaburra at the lookout.





















Fitzroy Falls.





















Australia's oldest suspension bridge over the River in Kangaroo Valley.











Days 70 & 71.
Rain. Mum works on a grant application and dad also does work.
Previous posts.

Australia 2009 - days 53 to 64 at Mt. Kosciusko and Canberra

Day 53.
We leave Mt. Arapiles and drive 12 hours (over the Great Dividing Range) to get to Mt. Kosciusko National Park.

Early on the drive the road is blocked by a farmer moving his sheep.












An example of the way rivers have been dammed in Australia. In this instance the remains of trees that died due to flooding can be seen. Quite an eyesore.





Day 54.
We set of at 1 pm to climb Mt. Kosciusko (1228 m), which is Australia’s highest peak.

In these two shots mum & dad can be seen pushing the stroller up hill.






























Almost at the top we have a little break so Sofie can look around.













Mum and Sofie reaching the peak......













.......... and on the summit.















Seaman’s hut which was built as a rest shelter for climbers and in memory of Seaman and his friends who perished on the mountain in the 1800's.











The beautiful snowy river.
















These lovely snow gums are the only trees that can survive at these altitudes.










































Day 55.
We arrive in Canberra and Sofie has a good look around, notice she is now pulling herself forward in her stroller..........



















........... Sofie having a chew on her 'Mr. Ugly' toy.














Day 56.
We visit Guy and after having lunch at the local pub in O'Connor we head out to Booroomba Rocks in Namadji National Park to scout out the potential climbs.

Uncle Guy and dad on their way up with Sofie in the back-pack.




















Dad at the top of Booroomba rocks with Sofie in her pack.














Day 57.
Whilst Uncle Guy takes care of Sofie we again head out to Booroomba rocks to climb.

Dad climbing the classic three star route (Integral, grade 19+) , this was nice granite and slab climbing which dad loves but mum didn't get up this route.


















Day 58.
We have a quiet day reading and then head out to the Botanical Gardens.

A small lizard in the rock garden section.




That night we eat at an Asian restaurant in Dickson and all eat Laksa which was very hot & spicy but delicious!












Day 59.
We spend the morning in the Australian War Memorial and at lunchtime the rain subsides so we head off to Coree Mountain (1421m) as we heard that the approach to the climbs was 20 m from the road. What we didn't realise was that 'Two - sticks Road' was a 4WD track so our approach ended up being over 1 hour with Sofie in a pack.

In this photo dad & Sofie stand in front of the climbing crag that ended up being very baby unfriendly with quite difficult grades.


















We made it to the top of Mt Coree and enjoyed the panoramic views, in the next four photos dad & Sofie enjoy these views.



































































Sofie sleeps on the way down back to the car.




















Day 60.
Uncle Guy gives us a very good tour of Parliament house, very interesting getting behind the areas available to the public.

A view of old Parliament House seen from new Parliament House.













Sofie looking very regal with the Australian Coat of Arms behind her.
Notice she is now sitting up by herself.




















Another view of Old Parliament House seen from New Parliament House ..........














..........Australian flag on the top of the new Parliament House.





















We eat lunch with Guy at in the members lounge of Parliament House, the plates are very nice and engraved with the Australian the Coat of Arms. But unfortunately these were not for sale in the gift shop.













It was a great feast for only 20 dollars and the entree and desserts were a buffet so dad definitely got his moneys worth. In this photo one can see his dessert.










Dad needs to do some work so the hunt for wireless internet begins. Pete & Ann-Marie (Guys flatmates) recommend Cafe Front.

In this photo Dad & Sofie access the internet at Cafe Front.















That evening we eat grilled fish and chips from the local O'Connor fish shop.
Pete & Guy present the food.













A group photo.















Day 61.
Hans works at Guys house and Sofie & mum go to the National gallery, National Library and National Portrait Gallery.

That night we eat Japanese food at 'Wasabi' and Sofie eats with chop - sticks for the first time.













Day 62. We spend the day at the pool and also discover that Sofie has 2 teeth breaking through.

A close-up of Sofie's first tooth, this actually bought tears to mums eyes. Time is just flying!













That night we eat out in Dickson at a vegan restaurant with Uncle Guy, Pete & Ann-Marie.

The food was amazing as can be seen in the two examples in the following two photos.

The nest which was a nest made of grated potato filled with vegetables and topped with cashew nuts.













Starters ..... notice the mok chicken drumsticks!! Amazingly the consistency of the tofu used in these these was just like chicken.












A group photo ......








.......... and a photo of everybody holding Sofie's new cuddly toy.


















Day 63.
We all walk up Black Mountain and then take the lift to the cafe in the top of the Telstra telecommunications tower.

Sofie can now touch her feet & also suck on them which is quite amazing.
She now has four rolls on each leg and weighs well over 8 kg!











Mum & Sofie and the view of Lake Burley Griffin in the background.













That evening Guy makes us a home cooked meal and in this photo Pete & Ann-Marie entertain Sofie.














A video of Sofie's new 'click click' sounds.

A video of Sofie eating.

A video of Sofie eating bread all by herself.


A video of Sofie watching dad drink his sprite soda.

Day 64.
We pack up while Guy looks after Sofie and then head to Lanyon Homestead for lunch after this we say our goodbyes and head to Nowra.

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