The History of Journey

The word that completes Master Chef is Australia. Well, most of the times, if not always. Kangaroo and Koala thrive here and are common as deer in the Tropics. The land has the oldest surviving rainforest and is home to the bizarre and intense creatures. Most of the white people are intimidated when they hear/see spideys. Yes, the land in discussion is the Commonwealth of  Australia which is the biggest in Oceania and sixth in the world.  The country is filled with incredible natural beauty from Uluru to the Outback, rainforests to pristine white sand beaches, and of course, the Great Barrier Reef. Sydney’s Harbor Bridge and Opera House are iconic man-made wonders, and Melbourne’s café culture will make you feel like you are in Europe or South India (pun intended :-D) Majority of the population is concentrated on the eastern seaboard and my itinerary covered the eastern coast starting from Melbourne, visiting Cairns next and finally completing with Sydney. The popula...

Initially I had plans to join for a walking tour on this day and cover all important sights on foot. But on Day 1 , I could cover some places like Circular quay, Opera House. So, I decided to do my own walking tour starting at Central. Folks can follow the same route if interested. Walking Tour Map I started early from Central and reached Darling Harbour first. It was still quiet and boats were still anchored. Sydney Sea Life aquarium is present in the same vicinity and could see many kids excited near the entrance. I gave it a pass and continued along harbour for some distance and followed map to go to Harbour Bridge walk. The way is not properly marked, atleast till the bridge and I had to ask cab guys and cops to direct me to the right way. To enter bridge, some walk is needed and its not direct entry. At here, can do bridge climb , top of the tower for a fee. The walk along bridge is free though. The walk provides different view of the Opera House and Circular Quay...

The Blue mountains have been home to the Aboriginals for many millennia and their footprint is evident throughout the area. The mountains are not actually blue, but its due to Rayleigh scattering effect. The area is abundant with Eucalyptus trees and so tiny droplets of eucalyptus oil are dispersed into atmosphere, scattering the sun rays It can be a day trip from Sydney or there are options to stay over and explore many bushwalks. I did a dat trip from Sydney and left Central station early in the morning. I took 6.30 AM train and the journey was close to 2 hours. The terrain changed from city outskirts to grasslands to hilly terrain. Kuranda is the disembarking station and tickets to explore the blue mountains are available outside the station. There are different passes and I chose LyreBird pass . I decided to visit places as advised here . The booklet acts like a bus pass and if we wave, explorer bus will stop. They run in the predefined circuit covering all important...

I reached Sydney at noon and bought an Opal card at the Airport. Took train to central and reached hostel. Packed lunch and left to bus stand to reach Coogee beach to do the coastal walk. The coastal walk is about 6 kms and you could do it either from Coogee to Bondi or the other way.On the Coogee to Bondi walk, you could follow the concrete footpath the whole way but there are a few spots worth diverting for. Some of the walk highlights include, Ocean views, towering sandstone cliffs and crashing waves as far as you can see Golden beaches Surfers catching a wave before and after work Aussie beach culture at every turn Coastal pools, cliff top lookouts and rock pools. The important stops/points along the walk include, Stop 1: Coogee Beach Stop 2: Shrine to Virgin Mary Stop 3: Bali Memorial Stop 4: Dunningham Reserve Sandstone Cliffs Stop 5: Gordons Bay Stop 6: Gordons Bay Underwater Nature Trail  Stop 7: Clovelly Stop 8: Waverley Cemetery...