Blue Mountains: Grand Canyon Hike

This past weekend we ventured up to the Blue Mountains to hike through Australia's Grand Canyon. While it wasn't as large or "grand" as the one back home, it was still quite impressive. The canyon is set in dense old-growth forest and has a stream/river running along the bottom. We traversed up and down the canyon walls multiple times as well as crisscrossed the stream throughout the hike.


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We had a beautiful day for it, cool with bright blue skies. The rain stayed away, defying the weather girl's most dire predictions.

At the end, we were rewarded with amazing views into the next valley, gazing deep into the heart of Blue Mountains National Park.

Us at the top, what a view!

We will definitely be back in the future to check out more amazing hikes. Blue Mountains National Park is only a 2 hour drive from where we live, making weekend day trips an easy proposition. They seem to do a really good job maintaining the many trails that thread through the region, enabling access to a diverse range of hikes and amazing views.

Clambering over a log to get across the stream

Crisscrossing the stream at the bottom of the canyon

Chris on a log that crossed the stream at the bottom of the canyon

Bright green moss covering everything on either side of the path

The view into the next valley

Looking down the canyon from about halfway down

Team photo, midway down into the canyon

One of the many small waterfalls all around the canyon

Looking across the canyon, such dense plant life

Amy and Chris behind one of the larger waterfalls

Cairns Part II: Welcome to the Jungle

The latter part of our Cairns adventure was land-based and took us to the Daintree Rainforest region. Up there we hiked through the jungle and took a river cruise to see the abundant wildlife and verdant scenery.


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One thing that is commonplace up there that we do not have in Sydney is the saltwater crocs. These can grow up to 24 feet long and inhabit most of the waterways and beaches. In fact, there were signs at all of these areas warning you of the danger posed. Glad I don't have to worry about that every time we go out in the water down in Sydney.

Croc entering the water

No one volunteered to go in to find him

Go ahead and take a swim, what are the odds...?

And, if you weren't put off by the "Croc Danger" signs, they were often accompanied by the Box Jellyfish Warning signs at all the beaches. Mother Nature simply does not want you in the water.

If the crocs don't get you, the jellyfish are waiting

The crocs were evident on the river cruise we took and we spotted several lying on the muddy riverbanks. There was also abundant bird species around the Daintree River, some of which got the birders we were on the cruise with into a stir of excitement.

Heron in flight

Azure Kingfisher, got the birders really excited

Once we retreated to the jungle to hike around (where only spiders and snakes are out to get you), we were treated to old-growth forest as well as the apparently croc-free Mossman Gorge river. If you were wondering what differentiates a rain forest from a regular forest, the answer is of course: the rain. In the Daintree region, they measure the annual rainfall in meters, rather than most places, where it is measures in centimeters. We were told that in the last year, they had 4 meters of rainfall. That is higher than a basketball hoop.

We had a great time up there, it was nice to get away from the city/suburbs and to escape into untouched wilderness. Time to start planning the next adventure!

River running through the Mossman Gorge

This tree could have supported an Ewok village

Daintree River, beautiful scenery

Mangroves lined one side of the river, rain forest was on the other

Lush rain forest running all the way down to the ocean

Butterfly in the jungle, possibly the only thing that is not plotting your demise

It's been a good week

The first autumn swell has hit and the waves have been massive this week. Good enough that 10X world champion surfer Kelly Slater was in the area earlier in the week. We managed to go bodysurfing 2 days after work and had some great rides both times. On top of that, Amy's parents arrived on Thursday and brought many gifts from America with them, including a new camera from Chris' mom and dad.

The above picture was taken with the new camera on Friday evening before going out for dinner and drinks as the sun was setting. The double rainbow was actually so big that I could not get it in a single frame. I took several photos and put them together with Photostitch.

We are off tomorrow for boating and fishing with the Legrands and then if the weather holds out, some hiking on Sunday.

Visitor #1: James Legrand - Part 1

The first of many visitors?

Amy's brother James recently came to stay with us for about 3 weeks. We were overjoyed that he was able to come out. His plan was to sit on the beach with a beer and relax.

He did this for 1.5 days.


The rest of the time we had him fishing, diving, snorkeling, hiking, surfing, and seeing the sights around Manly and Sydney.

Stunning views met us around every bend in the trail

He has still not recovered from his vacation, returning to the brutal cold of a Massachusetts winter, surely did not help.

James in front of the largest waterfall we encountered

One of the larger adventures we took him on was an excursion to the Blue Mountains for a stunning hike through the aptly named Valley of the Waterfalls.


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James and I took this trip while poor Amy was stuck at work but we were sure to have enough fun for 3 people to make up for the deficit.

I almost perished scrabbling over the slick rocks for this picture

The views of the surrounding valley, as well as the waterfalls themselves were absolutely stunning. This trek, and the greater Blue Mountains National Park are about a 2 hour drive from where we live, but it seemed like another world.

Those convicts sure knew how to pick a country

Stay tuned, we have lots more pictures of other adventures we undertook while James was visiting including another hike, diving, and watersking.

Spring is here

Amy, dropped in the wilderness will now demonstrate her survival skills.

Spring is finally awakening in Sydney and to take advantage of the friendly weather, Amy and I recently took a hike through Ku-ring-gai National Park.


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It was a nice, easy hike along a fire track, under the clear blue sky. All around us, the wildflowers were starting to bloom, it was a nice bonus to the already beautiful scenery.




There are lots of these hikes around which is amazing as it is so close to Sydney. Just a 30-40 minute drive and you are deep in the bush.

Soaking up nature under the Australian sun.

God save the Queen

The Queen's Birthday was celebrated in Australia this past weekend and all the working stiffs got Monday off to mark the occasion as they saw fit. This is odd only because according to our British friends, no one gets this day off in England. I think it is the sort of thing that no Aussie wants to acknowledge out loud for fear of having it taken away, like in the last minute of class when everyone knows the teacher hasn't assigned homework and no one is raising a hand to remind her.

Anyways, this being our first Queen's birthday, we were a bit scattershot in our approach to celebrating but I would like to think that the old maid herself was up at 4 in the morning drinking, just like us. More on that later.

World Cup Central in Darling Harbor

We started the weekend by attending the World Cup kickoff ceremony in Darling Harbor after a massive dinner in Chinatown. Sydney is one of the official host cities of the World Cup and they have huge screens set up in the harbor for viewing the games as well as vendors and an overall carnival atmosphere. We stopped by for the opening ceremony and then ran/drove home to watch the first game - Mexico vs South Africa. This drive was interesting as it featured a singalong version of Bohemian Rhapsody which starred James as DJ, Debs ad Chris as Freddy Mercury and Amy as the fuming sober driver. The issue of a fuming sober driver raises the important point of "if you didn't want us screaming in the back seat, why did you allow Bohemian Rhapsody to be played?".

The answer to this perfectly logical question is still to be determined. For anyone who watched the opening match, you will surely agree that this was an exciting game and a great way to start off the World Cup. This whole exercise however was a mere dry run to help us decide where to watch the upcoming England vs USA game the following night.

Royal National Park

Saturday morning was a day spent as surely the Queen would have enjoyed, hiking in Royal National Park, about 50 minutes south of Sydney. This park is the 2nd oldest national park in the world and its conversation was modeled after it's older sibling, Yellowstone National Park in the US. It is a beautiful expanse of wilderness that follows the coast for many miles just south of the major metropolis that is Sydney.

Sun starting to go down in Royal National Park

The hike started off in an underwhelming fashion as it was mostly on a fire road which is essentially a dirt road through the woods used by rangers to inspect for forest fires and the conditions that may cause them. This is a great idea but it makes for a bit of a dull hike. It was however spiced up by the passing of the occasional child cross country runner. What kind of a sick parent sign their kid up for cross country running? To paraphrase the great Kenny Powers, kids want to play real sports, not be the best at exercising.

Tread the path

Our hiking was greatly rewarded however upon the discovery of a fantastic waterfall at the end. I don't know how high it was as it disappeared into the canopy below us but it had multiple cascading levels and after some investigation, we were able to climb down the side and into a grotto that had been hollowed out behind the wall of water.

This made everyone's day. It was awesome sitting on this ledge as hundreds of gallons of water rushed down mere inches from your face.

Waterfall. Awesome.

Next up was the brutally early 4 AM England vs USA game. The promise of white russians, bacon, and french toast casserole drew us out of bed at the appointed time, arriving at 4:20, with 10 minutes to spare before kickoff.

We were in enemy territory to watch the game, with our hosts Kat and Webs hailing from the UK but this advantage was quickly overlooked by them after England scored a goal within the first few minutes. God knows I didn't want to have to hear about it from these people for the next few years so I stirred my white russian and began to focus my cheering/wishing powers at the glowing receptacle of the television.

Can I get a do-over?

This paid off late in the first half when the US scored a totally BS, blooper reel goal. My shrill laughter that followed witnessing this will surely haunt the Brits for generations to come. Their disappointment was absolute and they begin making excuses about "luck" and so on. I calmly explained that the British goalkeeper simply couldn't stand up against the sheer POWER of the American strikers. We all knew this was a ridiculous and boastful lie. However, my hubris went unnoticed by the gods as we held on to the 1-1 tie. After which, we went back to being on speaking terms.

Sadly, the same outcome cannot be said to have happened for the Australian team on their first outing. The Socceroos suffered a 0-4 loss to Germany. The poor Aussie fans added the shame of this loss to the insult of having to wake up at 4 AM to watch it occur.

Dutch fans mesmerized by the TV, except that one woman who clearly does no want her picture on the internet in that hat.

We ended the 3 day weekend at an event sponsored by Holland House, which featured drinks and a viewing of the Holland vs Denmark game. This was an exciting event with the crowd swathed in Holland's orange and a marching band making their way through the crowd. The Dutch fans were intense, screaming and cheering along with the game. The place erupted when the 2 goals were scored and the crowd was magnanimous in victory at the close of the match. It was a great way to finish off our weekend of royal festivities.

God save the Queen.

Happy Easter

Paging Felix....

Someone asked me, "So what do Australians do for Easter"? After careful research, I have found that they do pretty much the same as we do back home. Eat, drink and buy lots of chocolate for the kiddies, mostly in bunny form. Lamb and salmon were prevalent in the grocery stores in the week before and I suspect that enough barbecue smoke was put into the atmosphere over the weekend to raise the earth's temperature by a half a degree or so.

For Amy and I however, we celebrated by making sushi and inviting our American friend, Mel over for dinner. Mmmm...sushi.

We also took an awesome hike around Long Reef for a few hours on the be-utiful day that was Easter Sunday. The picture of the golf course by the sea above was taken while hiking, as were the couple below: