Snowy Mountains Anzac Day (Part 2)

Continuing the photo post..

We continued driving towards Kosciuszko National Park. This is the largest national park in New South Wales and one of the greatest in the world. Covering almost 675,000 hectares, the park contains the highest mountains in Australia, the famous Snowy River and all NSW ski fields. Its many and varied attractions include walks through alpine herbfields; spectacular caves and limestone gorges; scenic drives; and historic huts and homesteads. 

In summer, vehicle pass is AUD16. The fee increases to AUD27 during winter!

Because it was still summer. We paid AUD16 to enter the park. And the pass was valid for one day. Then we continued to drive towards Perisher Valley.. 

The moment I stepped out of the car, I realised that I was not wearing enough clothes! It was freaking windy and cold in Perisher Valley! The strong wind almost blown me away!

 

Didn’t I look funny!?

Climbing to the lookout point..

more & more photos..

Snowy Mountains Anzac Day (Part 1)

ANZAC Day – 25 April – is probably Australia’s most important national occasion. It marks the anniversary of the first major military action fought by Australian and New Zealand forces during the First World War. ANZAC stands for Australian and New Zealand Army Corps. The soldiers in those forces quickly became known as ANZACs, and the pride they soon took in that name endures to this day.

So we had one day off!! It was another long weekend (26 Apr – 28 Apr 08). Our plan is to drive all the way to Snowy Mountains.. It is about 5-hours drive away! Considered pretty far.. We would stay in Cooma, which is about one hour away from mountains area and Cooma is about 400km away from Sydney!

The speed limit in most of the freeway (freeway means free highway.. haha) here is 110km/h. Sometimes lower. A nice surprise was the free coffee at one of the rest areas near canberra (but the coffee didn’t taste good at all =P)!

Free coffee + my super long hair (btw, I cut my hair after that)

It was early Autumn. The views along the journey was really different from all the green trees we have in tropical countries..The falling leaves, the balding trees and the vast, seemingly endless fields made the entire journey an eye opener for me!

The endless vastness…

The balding trees.. and a lot of rocks along the roadside..

From Cooma, we drove to Jindabyne (a very beautiful lake..) Along the way, we passed by a village, called Berridale which is famous for its Poplar trees..

This is the famous Poplar Drive.

The Poplar Drive
The chief attractions of the town are the poplar drive (on the Jindabyne side of town) which, in autumn, boasts one of the finest stands of yellowing poplars anywhere in the Snowy Mountains and the old schoolhouse in Oliver Street which dates from 1883 and is listed by the National Trust. Although the buildings have had extensions they still are a reminder of what a small country school was like at the end of the nineteenth century. Of particular interest is the gabled roof and the unusual curved corrugated iron roof. They are actually two buildings which have been joined by the inevitable pragmatic extension

More photos….

Preview to What Australians do during winter!

Just got back from Snowy Mountains…

I SKI-ed for the first time..

I saw MANMADE snow for the first time..

It was fun.. a more detailed photo blog will be uploaded ASAP..

Southern Highlands

The Southern Highlands, ninety minutes from Sydney, includes the larger towns of Mittagong, Bowral and Moss Vale. Smaller villages such as Berrima, Exeter, Bundanoon and Robertson offer unique attractions, shopping and eateries. A number of vineyards in the region, now have cellar door sales and the wine trail is a major attraction. In spring people come from all over the world to enjoy Tulip Time and the many private gardens open to the public. At the edge of the shire is the Morton National Park with excellent facilities at Fitzroy Falls .

Southern Highlands also include Goulburn, which is on the far side of the Southern Highlands, is Australia first inland city and today has a wonderful wide main street and boasts many preserved colonial buildings.

We visited Southern Highlands during a sunny Sunday. We managed to have a short visit to Mittagong, Bowral and Fitzroy Falls. The place is really wonderful. Relaxing atmosphere, beautiful landscape..

Autumn shows his color through the trees..

A small church in Bowral.

 

Fitzroy Falls.. magnificent, isn’t it?

 

Nepean Dam

Let the photos do the talking..

 

Sydney Fish Market 2nd Take

This was the second time we visited Sydney Fish Market. The parking fee is AUD2 dollar for one hour and AUD7 dollar for 2 hours… is not even exponential!! So we rushed into the market.. bought our favourite oysters, some fish and chips and the handmade berries yogurt!

So many oysters…

Sumptous fish platter.. is about AUD10 for few pieces of fish and some “sotong” + chips..

It is always crowded.. A lot of people come here to enjoy fresh seafood..

Another Wollongong Trip

Initially, we wanted to go to Lake Illawarra, near the city of Wollongong. But we didn’t manage to find our way there and decided to spend an afternoon in Wollongong city.

The name Wollongong is believed to mean “sound of the sea” in the local Aboriginal language, although other explanations have been offered, such as “great feast of fish”. It is a city near sea and also a great source of fish because the city is also a regional centre for the South Coast fishing industry.

We had some nice fish & chips in a cafe near the sea.  

haha.. only me in the photo because the fish and chips were already in my stomach..

The city was so quiet on the day we went.. because it was a Sunday and everything was closed..However, the weather was quite cool and we quite enjoyed walking in this small city that have little things to offer us..

Autumn is here..

Beautiful autumn, isn’t it?

When my friends in UK are welcoming spring and sunshine, I am surrounded by yellowish leaves.. I usher in my first Autumn in Australia. It is awesome scenaries for me.. the leafless tree, the yellowish leaves, the fallen leaves… 

The weather is also getting colder by days.. It had been raining continously for last 2 weeks. and finally the rain halted on Monday this week..

Sitting in my living room without a heater (it is 13 degrees celcius now), I am feeling a little bit weird.. One of my colleagues left for UK (she is from UK and spent her last 8 years here in Australia)..She bought a house here.. got a car here.. but in the end she chose to return to UK.. of couse I don’t know her real reason for leaving.. but this makes me ponder..Am I going to be here for long? How long would it be?

Anyway, I try to not to care or be bothered about this.. I should enjoy my life here, shouldn’t I?

 

It has been long

Yeah.. I know I’ve gone missing for long time..

For those that wonder where I was all the while, I am still living and kicking in Sydney. The fact is some changes in my lifestyle.. My life is now with:

24 Feb 2008: Wollongong – Nan Tien Temple

Thanks to Ethan’s colleague and wife (They are from Singapore).. who kindly brought us the the largest buddhist temple, 南天寺 in Trans-tasman..(I think there are like two countries or maybe three on trans-tasman?)

Anyway.. the temple is really grand and feels very “home” (家乡的味道) when we were there..

We bought some fruits and some sandalwood incense to pray to 菩萨.

Then we have lunch in a cafe inside the temple.. I ordered tom yam udon.. It was really good..