Home Our Trip New South Wales 46-Sydney to Dubbo
46-Sydney to Dubbo

26th January 2009.

Arriving in Sydney was the nightmare we expected with all the traffic, narrow roads and the 42 degree plus heat, but we were really looking forward to seeing our youngest son Lee who lives in Sydney.

Lane Cove and Lee:

Lee had suggested we stay at Lone Cove Caravan Park as it was only 5 minutes from his place and only about 15 minutes to the Sydney CBD. What a surprise we had when we saw the place. We were expecting the usual big busy city park, but wow, the caravan park is located in The Lane Cove National Park and it's all bush. Couldn't see or hear any signs of being anywhere near Sydney, so unexpected and just what we needed. The trees and wildlife added the finishing touches and next morning, the weather cooled down and it was pleasant throughout our stay.

Went round to Lee's place and his flat looks over Lane Cove as well and it's just so peaceful. Our boy enjoys his food and like his Dad, enjoys cooking. He prepared a restaurant quality 2 course meal which was awesome, even the presentation had to be right, good onya Lee. It was good catching up with him and he took some time off work to show us around.

 

Sydney:

The main problem we encountered was parking. Street parking is all but impossible to find, so had to use car parks. As we have the roof rack with attachments on top, we need a clearance of 2.3 metres and every car park we found had a maximum clearance of 2.1 metres.  Eventually found one near Darling Harbour with 2.5 clearance, but at $10.00 per hour it worked out very expensive each day. Best way to get around is to use the ferries and buses.

Sydney Harbour and all the surrounding Icons are awesome and just what we expected after all the photos we've seen. It's much better seeing it in the flesh coz of all the vibe and buskers and just the general atmosphere. As everyone word wide has probably seen most of Sydney on TV and in the movies, I won't get boring and go into all the details. There is just so much to see and do, we couldn't possibly list even a fraction of what we saw, so here's the main photos.

 

Blue Mountains:

Only around 90 minutes inland from Sydney along good roads, The Blue Mountains are a breath of fresh air. The tourist thing is much smaller than we expected and is all confined to one stop, Scenic World,  from which we did the Skyway, Railway, Walkway and Cableway. Although my fear of heights has improved beyond belief due to necessity from doing this documentary, I must admit to being a bit anxious when I saw the rides and how high they were.

The Skyway was a bit spooky coz of the glass floor down the centre where you look straight down between your feet to the valley 270 metres below, but the views, the trip and the filming soon took my mind of that. From the landing on the other side, the walks and views are spectacular. As it was a bit overcast and cloudy, we weren't treated to the full spectrum of natures colours and the never ending views.

Next onto the World's Steepest incline Railway, a 415 metre ride through a cliff side tunnel down into an ancient rainforest. It seemed strange when we first jumped onto the train coz the seats were so layed back at an angle, it didn't feel right as we were almost lying down. Off the train goes and then suddenly drops over the edge and you're sitting upright almost sliding off the seat. Now I know why there's grab handles and a steel cage over your head, awesome and frightening at the same time.

The Cableway, the steepest aerial cable car in the Southern Hemisphere takes you on a 545 metre ride out of the rainforest of the Jamison Valley. By now we were used to the steep inclines and just enjoyed the views.

This is a must do adventure and we thought it was very good value at $28.00 per person for all 4 attractions.

 

Janolan Caves:

We then continued further inland to Janolan Caves. Definitely not suitable for caravans as the road is very steep and narrow as it winds it's way down the mountains and it's slow going. Suddenly arrive at the entrance and you actually drive through a huge cavern/cave under a mountain to get into the valley and it's awesome. Be prepared as there are 10 caves here plus the Mystery and Ghosts Tour and it takes 3 days to do them all. We found it very expensive at $33.00 per cave/tour, but they do offer a small discount if you're doing more than one. Due to time and money restraints, we only did the Temple Of Baal Cave tour and it was definitely worth the trip.

Summer Bay:

For those who are into the soapie "Home and Away", we went to the northern beaches of Sydney and Palm Beach, which is where they do the outside filming of Summer Bay. We didn't really recognise too many things until we watched the soapie that evening and everything was as clear as mud, the Life Saving Club, the Beach House, the path down to the beach etc etc. As I'm carrying all the gear and filming things, people ask Lee if we're filming Home and Away and anxiously await the stars, "no he's filming a travel documentary".

Then headed back to Lee's place where he cooked us another dinner on our last night. It was good catching up with him and we had an awesome time. 

Bathurst:

3rd February - 2.5 hours inland from Sydney, Mount Panorama is home to the legendary annual Bathurst races and it's probably every race fans dream to do a lap of the track which has created so many legends including the late and great Peter Brock. Not everyone does it with a 4WD and caravan in tow so it was slow going, an eye opener and a memorable experience. Watching the races on TV and how fast those V8 supercars circulate, it's hard to believe just how tight the circuit actually is. Another surprise to me was, as the track consists of normal everyday roads, there's all these houses, wineries and businesses that would be totally inaccessible during race weeks.

Dubbo:

4th February - Heading further north to Dubbo and we're off to see Taronga Western Plains Zoo, Australia’s largest open plain zoo and it's well worth the trip. Another heatwave of 44 degrees greeted us which made filming and the visit very uncomfortable. Must admit, we're not really into zoo's with all the caged animals but had heard good reports on this one and they were right. No cages and good open spaces for the animals to roam around. There's over a 1,000 different species here and they're all well spaced out, so allow at least a full day, preferably two.

 

Life On The Road:

Two days after we left Sydney, saw on the news that Lane Cove National Park was on fire and the suspected arsonist had already been arrested but was later released. What a waste of a beautiful National Park and thankfully no lives were lost, as they managed to get it under control pretty quickly and minimal damage was done. He has since been re-arrested along with a 15 year old and they have both been charged with arson.

Although we've come across many places where we haven't been allowed to film or take photos on our travels, there were signs up front to tell us so. 
Sydney was different and a bit over the top. At Luna Park the security guard came rushing over to us, told us to turn the camera off and leave the premises immediately.
As we walked from there under the Sydney Harbour Bridge with the camera and tripod hung over my shoulder, 2 security guards came rushing towards us out of nowhere and started questioning us. I assured them I had no intention of filming the underneath of the bridge, but they wouldn't leave us alone till we where quite a way from the bridge where we took the first photo of the Opera House and Harbour Bridge. Then 4 of them watched us all the way back as we walked back to the car.

Once we left Sydney, we again felt the wrath of the heatwave with 42 plus degress at Bathurst and Dubbo, very uncomfortable.

Life on the road is good, we're still having a ball and filming is going well.

 
 
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