Punters and Porpoises

After our trip to the Blue Mountain we had a few eventful weekends around Sydney.

First we went to the Spring Carnival at the Races in Randwick. Sydney-siders LOVE to gamble and LOVE to get dressed in their Sunday best, so the Spring Carnival is one big event, kicking off the countdown to the biggest race in Oz (the Melbourne Cup). It was a beautiful sunny day with great company (our friends from Tuesday Night Trivia) and great entertainment. Eric quickly put on the punter role, making friends with the bookies but unfortunately not breaking even -- although we won back our bets a couple times -- I enjoyed the horses of course!

The next weekend we cruised through Sydney Harbour with our new friends from Croatia (Boris, a fellow KPMG secondee, and his wife, Rahela) for a groupon whale-watching adventure. November brings the whales back from their warm northern breeding grounds. We followed a couple mothers with calves during the trip, and then on the way back to the harbour we got a great surprise... a little calf decided to show off and give us a show!

Bluuuue Mountains!

So we're gonna have to play catch-up a bit. The last month have been fairly eventful with a kick-off to our travels beginning in the Blue Mountains, just a quick two-hour train ride from the Sydney CBD. We decided for the long weekend (labour day here in NSW), we should get out of the city for a little fresh air =)

We stayed at the Carrington, a historic hotel in Katoomba. The weather was a little cold, but we got some good hikes in and saw some beautiful mountain country... The Three Sisters (mountain formation), dense forests, cascades and beautiful flowers in nearby Leura.

Eric rolled his ankle on the treacherous Furber steps, but was a real trooper and made it to the top! Thankfully the next day was very foggy and rainy, so we had a more relaxed day topped off with a "real" hot chocolate at the nearby chocolatier --- hot milk served over a burning flame with all the chocolate bits we wanted! Overall it was a great kick-off to our month of fun and travels. Unfortunately we've run out of free space on Flickr, so we'll switch to posting a few photos to the blog with more comprehensive albums on Facebook. Enjoy!