Aug 31, 2025 Zig Zag Railway
The reason we came to Lithgow is to ride the Zig Zag Railway steam powered train! We had to take the more modern electric train the 3 miles from Lithgow to the Zig Zag station at Bottom Points to catch the steam train that then took us up to Top Points.
While we waited for the steam train we enjoyed the little model railroad they have in the station!
The train arrived and we waited while it took on water for the climb to Top Points.
We had views looking back as we descended to Bottom Points of the stone trestles we had just crossed.
A great ending to a wonderful day on the rails! What a difference from the winter weather of yesterday!
Aug 30, 2025 Lithgow
We traveled from Sydney into the Blue Mountains, past the area we visited in May of 2024, to the town of Lithgow. We encountered true WINTER here! No snow on the ground, but freezing temperatures and cold, wet winds!
The train ride from sea level Sydney to 3,120 foot Lithgow took 3 hours through countryside into the Blue Mountains, similar to the Appalachian Range, not too high and no jagged peaks!
Lithgow’s heyday was the late 1800’s to WW2. An industrial town with factories powered by the coal mining in the area, the economy shrank after the war. Currently it is reinventing itself as an artistic tourist destination.
.The main street is long and reminiscent of a bygone era.
Alleyways along the street are decorated with artworks like these colorful tiles.
We ended our second night at The Blue Fox, a restaurant a 15 minute walk from our apartment. We settled at a table next to the warm woodstove to take the winter chill off. The waiter shared photos he had of the snow flurries late last night that we missed!
Aug 28, 2025 A Day in Sydney
We had an 11 hour train ride from Melbourne to Sydney yesterday and a two night layover in Sydney to recover! One full day of sightseeing in Sydney on a beautiful sunny day! We took the bus to the Botanic Garden. We love walking through any garden and the Sydney Royal Botanic Garden is fantastic!
The huge fig tree, the banana plant, the bird’s nest fern backlit by the sun, and the giant tropical plant leaves that make Robert look miniature! And Central Oregon is referenced as home to the largest living organism on Earth!
From the Botanic Garden it’s a quick walk to the iconic Sydney Opera House which we walked around to get views from every angle.
From one spot the soaring roofs look like conquistador helmets, another angle looks like the open mouth of a humpback whale!
From the Opera house we walked around Sydney Cove, the ferry terminal area, to ‘The Rocks’, a gentrified tourist boutique shopping district. Historically a ‘slum’ working class neighborhood near the industrial docks and warehouses notorious in the 1800’s for the narrow alleyways frequented by gangs, prostitutes and drunken sailors!
Many of the stone buildings were slated for demolition, but saved by neighborhood efforts and renovated.
Aug 25, 2025 Yarra River Trail
We navigated the train and bus routes out to the northeast suburbs of Melbourne to walk the Yarra River Trail. It was a beautiful day for a walk!
The river is brown and looks muddy. I don’t know if that is usual or due to recent rains. There are trees flowering with bright yellow and very fragrant blooms!
Further down the trail we spotted bright colorful parrots. This pair were busy, one on the branch with its head tucked as it preened, the other with its head in a cavity on the tree trunk, perhaps excavating for a nesting site! These are rainbow lorikeets, a native Australian parrot!
Along the trail is a reserve for flying foxes, apparently a larger colony than the one we saw in Albury!
We walked through the reserve area without seeing a single flying fox. We rounded a bend in the river, and there they were! Thousands of the dark pendulous forms hanging in the trees over the river!
Aug 24, 2025 Melbourne CBD
Today we explored downtown Melbourne, along the Yarra river that runs through town.
We started with a tram ride to The Queen Victoria Market in the center of the city. We wandered through the many stalls in the different sections, meat, fish, produce and lots of clothing and knick-knacks spread over 2 city blocks in 19th century buildings.
From the market we crossed town to the Botanic Garden and meandered along the forest paths.
We then walked along the historic river front where the docks, ship building and repair, and factories were established in the mid 1800’s as Melbourne exploded in population due to the 1852 gold rush.
We completed our circuit of the city back at Docklands where we were staying, visiting the shopping center a few blocks from our hotel. The huge ferris wheel was not operating, maybe not until summer.
An evening walk along Docklands was lit up with city lights.
