The Blue Mountains

During Ani's second weekend in Sydney, we headed to the nearby Blue Mountains for a day trip. We started off with a visit to Featherdale Wildlife Center for the sole purpose of seeing kangaroos and koalas. All in all, it was touristy, but gave us a chance to see both animals during our short time in Australia.

The kangaroos we saw were small, but they were roaming free, so you could go right up to them and pet and feed them. This one below was more aggressive than Ani bargained for. He began to chew on Ani's jacket sleeve, which was cute at first, but then he wouldn't let go. Finally, Ani was able to get away from him and I quickly learned to stay away from these little guys.

The koalas were super cute and cuddly. Being protected animals, people are allowed to pet them, but it's illegal to hold them. And We learned that the eucalyptus leaves that they eat are a mild narcotic, causing them to sleep for 17-18 hours a day. What a life.



Next, we made our way to the Blue Mountains, where our first stop was at the Three Sisters rock formation. This sight provided amazing views across the valley, as well as a great photo op.

Finally, we headed to a park where we rode what is claimed to be the steepest railroad in the world down into the forest, and then a cable car back up. Finally, we enjoyed lunch (photo below) in a revolving restaurant. Yes, it was touristy, but it's really the only option and the view was amazing.

We then headed back to Sydney for a little rest, followed by dinner with friends.

Bravo, Bravo

As many of you have heard, our house is a little more crowded these days with the arrival of Bravo, our German Shepherd puppy.

He's grown and changed so much in the past two weeks. His ears are standing up now. He barks at all strangers. And he's much heavier, which I dont' like since I carry him down the stairs to go outside. I'm not exactly sure, but I think he's a little scared of stairs. Fortunately, he's mastered climbing up.

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Bravo's hobbies include laying in the water he's spilled from his water bowl (it's super hot here), chasing the neighborhood stray dogs, hiding in the shower (again for the cool tile) and of course, sleeping.

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Today Bravo had his first visit from a trainer, although he's been pretty good so far. He's mastered Sit and is just about housebroken. Ani and I are almost trained too, to know when he wants to go outside or when he's hungry.

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Here are a few pictures of the little puppy. Hopefully you can see him soon on your next visit to Delhi.

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