What Drought?

Although there are many parts of the planet (including at home) that could use some rain, we have pretty much had our fill of it on this trip. It has followed us nearly everywhere. At first, we were pretty lucky about being in the right places at the right times and it seemed that we were inside during downpours, or right near a subway entrance or had some other fortunate means of avoiding the more intense showers (at least until Hong Kong).

One of the things we have not been able to avoid, however, is the effect the bad weather has had on our visits to the higher-elevation places such as the top pf the Eiffel Tower and the Great Wall. Today's excursion to the Blue Mountains fall into that same category. Although we had an occasional glimpse of them on the way up, the rain and fog had set in by the time we got to the top. It pretty much looked like this:
Although it was somewhat disappointing to miss the grand views, all was not lost. There was enough other stuff to see and do that the day couldn't be considered a total wash. Plus the guide was very enjoyable. Plus, we're in Australia, Mate! On the way up we stopped at the Featherdale Wildlife Park and had a look at several species, including koalas and dingoes.


The ride back to Sydney took a little longer than expected due to traffic but ended with a ride on the Parramatta River back to Sydney Harbor. We got this view of the Opera House then: