Outback and Back

So Sydney was an amazing city. Clean, friendly and so much to see. We made our rounds of the museums, neighborhoods and parks and didn't quite get it all in. Spent our last night having drinks and appetizers on the harbor at sunset viewing the opera house and the bridge and it was lovely, eh! Then we hoofed it back up to the street where our day began and had an outstanding gourmet dinner at Pello.
Sunday morning we headed out to view Bondi Beach, caught a swim and rescue competition, impressive, and then made for the Blue Mountains.
Beautiful colors, the eucalyptus give off a blue haze, so picture the rocks of the Grand Canyon with the greens and blues and you are in the right zone.
From there we continued around the rim and vistas and heading northwest to Orange, supposedly the "fruitbowl" of the region, although we didn't see any orchards! We did stay the night at a lodge on Turner Vineyard and roamed the vineyard hills at sunset and had a mediocre meal overlooking the hills and dales with nice wine.
Up and out early headed to the outback town of Cobar, the oldest mine town, people wondering why we were there! Very authentic though. We got the last rooms in town as the mine (gold that is) are actively underway and we were lucky to find some food. We did however drink quite cheaply at the local version of the VA hall while shooting pool and watching television! Something to laugh about. But I must mention that upon our arrival in the evening we drove about 70 K to view the oldest Aboriginal rock art that still remains. Along the ride we saw kangaroos, emu, lizards, amazing birds.... so the ride was amazing. The red earth was awesome.
Drove through Griffith the next day on our route south where a waiter asked us what we were doing in these parts, which made us laugh again. Seeing a part of Australia that is off the beaten path. These towns are a real throwback, old time architecture and a step back in time.
Spent the night in Echuca along the Murray River, wine country, had a fabulous Greek dinner.
Now we are headed to the south coast, west of Melbourne.