Australian Easter

Fortunately we had a long weekend on Easter, and some friends of mine and I decided to visit the Blue Mountains for an overnight stay. The mountains are located 2 hours away from Sydney by car and were named after the evaporating oil of the gumtrees, which gave the air an amazing blue gleam. I considered that this could be a great Easter as I was exited about the imminent trip.

There was a lot to discover at the Blue Mountains but there was also something we didn’t anticipate. As soon as we arrived on Echo Point (one of the famous lookouts) we became overwhelmed by the stunning view. We took this in and then went off to Jenolan Caves where we spend the rest of the afternoon. After that we decided to bring our luggage to where we were staying, have dinner outside and buy some beer for the night. After dinner we discovered that there was a catch. In Australia it’s not allowed by law to sell alcohol for take away on Good Friday. It was nearly ten so we stayed in Blackheath where is not much except one pub. We entered it just to realise that it was closing at ten. However this was enough time to meet some people, and that is how we bumped into Kathy and Phil. This couple from Canberra was in the same situation; just arrived but no idea where to go. After some small talk we invited them to our house where it turned out that they had a big esky full of Corona beer in their car. So here Good Friday gets it’s happy end. On the next morning we had Breakfast in a nice little Café in Katoomba (the biggest Town in the Blue Mountains) and then we spent the whole day enjoying nature, e.g., bushwalking, riding the Scenic Railway or visiting the Featherdale Wildlife Park.

This was the first part of my Easter weekend. The rest of it I spent with a friend in the City and on Manly Beach where I took another surf lesson at Manly Surf School. The water was rough and I tasted the salt water again as a result. However I managed to stand up a few times on my board. Because of the rough seas the lessons had a real workout character and I became very hungry. As a result of a hint I visited BenBry Burger where - without overstatement - I had the best burger ever. Seriously I can recommend everybody to try one of these. While watching the sun set over the beach I remembered the inscription at the harbour of Manly: “Seven Miles from Sydney, but a Thousand Miles from Care”

See you soon