we took an excursion to Australia's Blue Mountain area. First stop was a wildlife park where we saw more animals than we are putting up on the site today. Phil will add to his website when we get back home.

The Blue Mountain tour was a great mix of different things to do from the stop at the wildlife park to the beautiful scenery of the area. The highest peak was only a little over 3,000 ft so I wouldn't say these "mountains" were over the top, but more on the order of the Ozarks or Appalachians. Still they were lovely and our guide Adam was really a fill in for the tour group's owner who had a family emergency. Adam was raised in the Blue Mountains and currently his day job is as a park ranger in the Blue Mountain National Park. He had extensive expertise about the plants and animals of the region so that was really enjoyable. There were all sorts of cockatoos and colorful tropical birds flying around which was pretty amazing. The most well-known of the rock formations is called the "Three Sisters". Phil got some great photos of these three tiered piers as we sailed across a gorge in a big tram car. All in all it was a fun day from 7:30 am to 5:30 when we arrived back at the hotel.

Today is our last day in Sydney so we plan to spend it a little closer to home and explore more of the sights around here. Tomorrow we are off to Cairns by plane which is north and a jumping off spot for exploring the Great Barrier Reef.