Days 10-12: Sydney and Blue Mountains

Day 10

• Heavy morning rain messed up my plans to run along The Rocks, Circular Quay and Sydney Opera House
  
• Cruised along Sydney Harbour via Majistic Cruise Smart. Awesome 1 hour cruise!
  
• The Rocks Walking Tour. History and other interesting facts about The Rock and how Sydney was discovered.
  
• Sydney Wildlife World. A waste of time, except that I saw Koalas for the first time.

Day 11

• Half day City Sights and Manly Beach Tour. Nice wide beaches over at Manly, but I prefer Bondi Beach. Surf was too strong, so not a whole lot of swimming allowed at Curl Curl.
  
• Great Chunky Beef Pie at Hamlet's at Corso. I'm loving meat pies. Must find a place in Manila!
  
• Halfway stroll of the Sydney Bridge, also called a coat hanger. Great day, hardly any wind.
  
• Walked up Sydney Bridge Pylon for 360 degree views of Sydney. Spectacular panoramic views, better than Syney Tower without the distracting glares!
  
• The Sydney Opera House Essential Tour. Incredible architecture and interesting commentary by Charlie, the tour guide.
  
• Watched a movie at the Dendy, The Diving Bell and The Butterfly. Thought I made the wrong choice, but ended up liking this French film. Very original story.
  
• Sydney Aquarium. It was really awesome to see the sharks swim all around and over me!!! Breezed through the Aquarium, other things that stood out were the little penguins and the colourful reefs ~ that's as close as I'll get to the Great Barrier Reef.
  
• Took Monorail back to hostel.

Day 12

• Woke up at 6:45am to catch the 7:25 train ride to the Blue Mountains. It takes 2 hours to get from Sydney Central to Katoomba.
  
• Purchased the Blue Mountains Explorer Hop On/Hop Off transport to get around.
  
• Did a 2hr hike from Skyway Eastern Anchorage all the way to the base of Scenic World. Took the Railway all the way back up. That's the steepest rail I've ever seen!
  
• Did another hike from Honeymoon Lookout all the way down the Giant Stairway, that's 890 steps going down! I did a freaking 1780 steps! Never had my heartbeat beat so hard. I was ready to walk another 2 hours to the Railway to avoid climbing the stairs, but I lacked the time!
  
• Caught the bus at the Echo Point - Three Sisters to Leura Village.
  
• Devonshire Tea at Bygone Beautys. How very delicious and proper. They had over a thousand teapots on display!
  
• Caught the 3:24pm train back to Sydney. What a day!

Pictures to follow soon.