Day 77 Sydney Day 4

Today we left the city limits and headed off to the Blue Mountains. These mountains are part of the Great Dividing Range of mountains that run north and south for about 3500 km along the eastern side of Australia. They are called blue because the vapor from the eucalyptus trees in the summer creates a blue haze in the air. We wanted to see some of the countryside of this country. The mountains are not really that imposing as the tallest one in the entire country is only about 7000 ft high. Never the less it is very pretty and has some amazing overlooks.
It was here that I decided to try kangaroo and noodles for lunch. Not bad but it won't replace a good burger. We visited an old coal mining area that they have turned into a scenic overlook and a tropical forest walk. From there we visited a wildlife park and saw many of the animals Australia is famous for. Then back to the city.
Tomorrow more Sydney.

Chris - The Blue Mountains looked a lot like a cross between the buttes of Nebraska and Wyoming and the Badlands of South Dakota, but on a much smaller scale. It was nice to see some of the countryside. On the way home we rode past the Olympic Park from the 2000 Olympics. The park is located in a very industrial part of a Sydney suburb that was working on creating a sports park. They had built 2 buildings by 1994 when they got the bid for the Olympics and quickly sped up building all the venue sights. We couldn't see all of it as they were having a big fair/agricultural show on part of the grounds. The Sydney Olympics were known as the "green" Olympics as every building/venue built had to include 2 things...water and electricity. The water from the various features were recycled for use, so they only had to bring in drinking water and all the buildings had to have solar power built into it. After the Olympics the housing and part of the park is now a village and it's considered the only neighborhood in the world with everyone using solar power.