Thursday, October 24, 2013

Sydney bushfires

The weather in Sydney has been unusual. This day, we had hail:
The next, it was over 30C.  

My house sit finished, and my plans for bush walking have been put on hold. I held of leaving because of the number of fires about, and that was a good decision. Most of the Blue Mountains is burning now. All the National Parks are closed also.  At this rate I'll not get to go until next year.  Though, the way the winds are, everything might have burn't out by then...

In the mean time, I've been wandering the streets. Walking and cycling. In a car park in the city, I found these bird houses?

The wall also had this mural.

This load bike was in another car park in an industrial area. I wondered what they carried on it.

A stop to read the paper.

Having seen lots of the motorcycle pizza delivery, this was pleasing.  This was in the CBD area. 



Thursday, October 3, 2013

Sydney walkabouts

Still in Sydney, been stretching my legs, walking about. Also been enjoying fruit that you are unlikely to find in the country:
Durian, reckoned by some as the "king of fruits". Not sure if I'd go that far, but it is definitely delicious.  (Had to check for the "queen of fruits"; the mangosteen.  They fruit about the same time.) I'm lucky that I find them pleasant smelling. Other people aren't so lucky. In Asia, some hotels and public transport ban them. I ate mine outside, sitting in the garden.

Walking about town isn't the same as out bush, so headed for a walk down in "The Royal".

Looking on the National Parks website, the walk I did is listed as the Karloo and Uloola walking tracks.  They have the distance for Uloola listed as 10km, but is more like 5. Another site list Uloola as going from Heathcote to Waterfall which would be about 10km. So there is a bit of confusion there on naming or distance. The National Parks rate both as "medium difficulty". I rate it (Heathcote to Waterfall) as an bludge walk.
Was disappointed at the the state of Karloo Pool. Looked like some people had camped or partied there - so smashed beer bottles, half burnt plastic and trash left behind.
While sitting about at Uloola Falls, a couple of joggers turned up. One guy surprised me by drinking from the stream. He reckoned it tasted "just like water". Not sure what that means - as pure water is tasteless. That water was certainly not pure. And while the water looks clear, I wouldn't trust drinking it - especially in the Royal! Clear flowing water is not safe to drink. The bugs that cause illness are tiny - you can't see them.  His mate didn't seem keen on him drinking it either.
For me, a pleasant day was had.