Sydney & the Blue Mountains
We’re trying to travel on a fairly tight budget so it was probably a tad extravagant to decide we were going to Sydney purely for the opera. But it was so very worth it.
It wasn’t opera season when we were last in Australia in 2017 and we always regretted not being able to see a performance at the Sydney Opera House. So when we realised that Turandot, one of the only big ticket operas we haven’t seen, was on whilst we were in Australia it seemed too good an opportunity to miss. The fact that we weren’t going anywhere near Sydney was just a minor inconvenience, we were in the country after all. We’d just get a flight and an apartment and some quite pricey tickets……
Sydney Opera House is a modern architectural masterpiece that dominates the harbour. A controversial design finally completed, after 14 years, in 1973 it symbolises Australia and is recognised around the world. The sail curves on the outside (I have to admit that close up the tiles look somewhat toilet block) give way to a minimalist interior all concrete fan beams & pale wood. But modern does mean both spacious & comfortable seats & we had great ones on the third row getting us very close to the singers at the front of the stage. The acoustics inside the Joan Sutherland theatre were absolutely fabulous and the singers were amazing. Turandot herself had a voice that completely held you in thrall with her range & power. One of the best sopranos we’ve ever had the pleasure of hearing. Nessun Dorma, which is interestingly at the start of the third act & not the finale, was as in Melbourne, a powerful performance though possibly not quite as strong.
I usually like my opera to be traditional, both the costumes & the settings, as per when the opera was first written. Neither was the case here. Whilst I wasn’t so keen on the costumes, distopian grey & a bit depressing, the set idea with the menacing hologram of the all seeing eyes of Turandot was a haunting & completely overwhelming presence. Likewise the painful dance of her ancestor Lou-Ling, writhing in an emotional agony of blue flowing gauze (the only bright colour on the set) and exotic sparkling crown, long, black hair flying. I don’t think we’ve ever seen such a powerful and mesmerising opera anywhere.
Whilst in Sydney, we stayed in a lovely apartment in a 1930s mansion block in Potts Point just a short walk through the Botanical Gardens to the opera house and, in the other direction, the seedy underworld that surrounds Kings Cross Station – very similar to how London’s Kings Cross was a few years ago. Our apartment had been decorated in keeping with the age with great attention to detail, down to furniture, door handles, tiles & light fittings of the period. But stopping short of too much authenticity, it also had a fitted bath – it was so nice to have a relaxing soak. And, more importantly there was also a stock of Yorkshire tea!
We didn’t really do a vast amount else in Sydney, the weather really wasn’t behaving with gale force winds & lots of rain, which seemed to be a theme of our time in Australia. So we spent a lot of time just enjoying the comfort & space of the apartment, only a small studio but enormous compared to the campervan. We had a quick wander around the Sydney History Museum – more beating themselves up over colonialisation – and a breezy, choppy trip over to Manly for fabulous views of the opera house & harbour bridge and a beer in the sun, when it eventually made an appearance.
For our final couple of days in Australia we headed over to the Blue Mountains on a train that passed through Penrith (a bit of a diversion) on the way as well as the more locally sounding Emu Plains, Bullaburra & Warrimoo and saw lots of bouncing wallabies hopping alongside. In Katoomba, the tiny popular main town, we stayed in the local Youth Hostel – yes, really & no, we weren’t the oldest people there. The town is full of 1930’s era buildings, the YHA used to be a grand hotel in its day & we had movie night in the old ballroom. Not quite so glamorous now with its battered old sofas but it was only the second film we’ve seen in a year and an enjoyable way to spend the evening especially with a good bottle of Shiraz.
We came here to do a bit of walking in the UNESCO World Heritage Blue Mountains National Park and fortunately the weather was on our side with gloriously sunny days & clear blue skies. From the Echo Point viewpoint the vast expanse of pine & eucalyptus forest stretched as far as the eye could see. A wide valley with towering cliffs of greyish-blue and ochre where large, white cockatoos screech & nasty spiders & snakes lurk. Thankfully it was only the friendly cockatoos that we encountered.
The huge 910m high gnarled rocky points of the Three Sisters stand guard over the valley. Named after the First Nations Dreamtime story that tells how when the Kedumba people were losing a battle their leader feared his daughters would be carried off by the enemy and so turned them to stone, but was killed before he could reverse his spell. They now tower above the trees in the valley below, 982 steep steps down via the Giant’s Stairway.
The sunlight barely made it through the thick canopy of trees at the bottom. Vibrant green moss grew along rotten tree stumps and across chunks of grey boulder cleaved from the cliff face, silvery strands of spider webs strung across branches glinted above our heads and muddy pools flooded the path. There was a hush down there with just the occasional screech of a cockatoo breaking the silence. And with very few people choosing to venture off the easy cliff top walk, we were alone in our little area of the vast forest for many hours.
The walk in the valley was lovely but once down, the only way back out is up & up & up. The climb up the Federal Steps was steep & long passing tinkling clear waterfalls cascading down the slippery rocks. 1133 steps up (I did count them) we eventually reached Jami(e)son Lookout, appropriately, and the top of the cliff face. We thought this would be the end of the steps, but alas no, as we continued along the Prince Henry Cliff Walk there were steps everywhere. Rocky steps worn down by the constant tread of feet, newly chisled steps, wooden steps, metal steps, up and down, a continual workout for the thighs. The views across the valley were spectacular from up on high, the sun bright overhead and then down by the waterfalls it was like another world under huge rocky overhangs where damp moss & giant ferns dripped cooling droplets on our heads as we passed.
We ended the walk in the beautiful village of Leura where very expensive Art Deco timber cladded houses line the streets leading to a centre full of tea shops to revive the tired hiker. We treated ourselves to key lime cheesecake and a warm chocolate & walnut brownie with lashings of cream – delicious. Only the second time we’ve had cake since we’ve been in Australia, very restrained. Not quite so needed when there’s so much fabulous wine & cheese about.
Tired after our exertions of the previous day, we decided against trudging back up the hill to the train station when we left Katoomba and opted for the bus where the kindly bus driver let us on for free, nicely bookending our time in Australia with the lovely Adelaide bus driver who made a detour for us on our first day.
There’s something about Australia that pulls you in. We had a fabulous time when we were here eight years ago & have again this time. The scenery is just amazingly vast & so diverse and then there’s the wonderful, and usually super cute wildlife. And not a whole lot of people, which suits us just fine. Add to that excellent wine & cheese and maybe it’s not so surprising that we enjoy this country so much. I can’t see this being the last time we come here.
Helen (14th April 2026)
Very reminiscent of my time im sydney, we stayed in the same area. Didnt take in the opera though, sounds amazing. And we had a vertical funicular to get out of the valley in the blue mountains rather than all those steps.