Sunday 22 June 2014

THE BLUE MOUNTAINS: ECHO POINT

Happy Sunday everyone! Lambat sikit update sambungan... Pak Lang Mie dah habis dah citer Sydney, awak masih lagi terkial2...Ha..ha.. Esok dh nak p outstation, so better finish up this write-up...[sighh...]

Our next journey would be the Blue Mountain Area. Blue Mountain ni agak jauh dari Kotaraya Sydney. Kalau naik train tu 2 jam lebih dari Central. Mcm kami yg rumah dekat dengan Museum Station, kami ambik train dari:

                        MUSEUM STATION --> CENTRAL STATION --> KATOOMBA STATION

Dari Museum nak ke Central 1 stop aje... dalam 5 minit x sampai gitu. Nak ke Blue Mountain, kiranya kalau di KL, mcm dari KL nak ke Ipoh ler gamaknyer... The view outside the window was very stunning made the 2hrs journey seemed faster. From city skyscrapers u will see cities, houses, countryside and lastly mountainous area. Cuaca hari tu sangat cantik, in fact all our days in Sydney were fine, cuaca sangatlah memahami, not like when we were in GC...hujan sokmo.. Tapi itulah adat berjalan kan, mana boleh nk tentukan cuaca....ikut ler nasib...

Central Station
Railway Track @ Central Station
Dah masuk housing area...

One of the stations be4 sampai Katoomba. Katoomba ni yg last rasanya...
Bila dah sampai, ade 3 options nak pusing2 Blue Mountain ni (if naik bas).

Pertama: naik Blue Mountain Explorer bus (BME). Yang ni method yang agak mahal. Tmpt beli tiket Blue Mountain Explorer ni betol2 dkt dengan Train Station. Keluar aje dr station, belah kanan akan nampak cermin merah seperti di bawah ni:


Kami bergambar aje...x mampu nak naik...;)
Mereka ada 29 stops across Katoomba and Leura.   Harga BME ni adalah $40 - adults, $20 - Children, $35 - Concession and $100 - Family. For more details, click here: http://www.explorerbus.com.au/  Bagi yg stay 7 hari, ade offer, where u can validatetr BME tickets for up to 7 days - at no extra charge!

Kedua: Yang ni lebih murah... Naik Trolley Bus. Stopnya lebih kurang sama dengan BME tp pace nya lebih slow... Kiranya kalau BME tu lari macam remaja umur 18, yang ni mcm pakcik umur 45 ler gitu... Tempat beli tiketnya mcm gambar di bawah ni... Cross jalan depan railway Station, nampak ler trolley shoppe.  For more details, click here: http://www.trolleytours.com.au/


Trolley Shoppe just across the street.

Ni rupa trolley bus. Ntah kenapa sekerat aje plak..ha..ha.. Antik bas nih...

Harga Trolley bus ni pula ialah AUD25. Much cheaper than BME. Tp BME tu adelah offer lain die lagi rasanya...mcm discount nak masuk tmpt aborigines dan mcm2 lah... silalah refer pd link di atas for further details.

Ok, yg ketiga, kalau x mampu jugak nak naik Trolley Bus, silalh naik bas awam nombor 686. Percuma dengan MyMulti Card atau AUD2.30 per ride. Route bus ni lebih kurang sama aje dengan bas2 di atas. Nak tunggu bas  686 ni, kena jalan sikit sampai depan Carrington Hotel. Complicated sikit nak bg tau direction tp dekat ajelah. boleh tnya orang2 di BME office atau Trolley Shoppe tu. Atau org awam pon boleh aje nak tanya. Mereka mesti tau...

Dekat depan hotel ni la
tunggu bas 686
Ada banyak tempat boleh dilawati kat Blue Mountain Area ni, but since we only have a day here, so kami pon terpaksalah sort out tempat2 yang kami nak p. Caving memang kami cancel tp sapa2 yg suka tngk gua2 bolehla ke Jenolan Cave. Ade pakej juga nak ke cave tu. Peminat coklat pon boleh singgah ke Chocolate Factory, tp kami x p... x berapa nak minat, lagipon masa x da.

Of course we chose the 3rd option, the least expensive one. So, kami tunggu bus depan Carrington Hotel. Suhu kat Blue Mountain ni mcm 5 degrees lower than Sydney. So, bawa baju tebal sikit la.. Lagipon, berangin. Kami naik bak 686, terus ke Echo Point, tempat si 3 beradik. Kejap jer naik bas, dalam 10 minit gitu. Dari dalam bas tu kami nampak ada FO, Woolsworth, semua ade. Tp, hari ni bukan hari shopping, so lupakan aje....

Bas akan turunkan kita kat sini, area Echo Point. Dari sini boleh nampak
3 sisters. 
Dkt sini ada info counter, toilet dan nak berkelah2 pon ade kerusi disediakan. Kami solat dekat area sini aje, since ade bnyk kawasan lapang. Ade bnyk lookout points kat sini di mana kita boleh menikmati pemadangan yg indah...:)

The famous 3 sisters
Ada bnayk pilihan trekking  yang kita boleh ikut. Tapi yg  the famous one i presume three sisters walk ler gamaknyer...
Signboards are everywhere. Jngn risau, takkan sesat punya...

Ade plak rombongan warga2 emas ke 3 sisters.
Information counter yg terletak dalam kedai

Silalah teropong...
Dari kejauhan...

Look at the greenery...

Tengah kami mengamati keindahan alam ni, tiba2 terserempak dengan En Mat ni ha... Namanya Baji. Pelajar post grad dr Msia. Die part time bawa org ke area2 sydney.  Jadi, sapa2 nak pakai khidmat beliau, email saya, die ada bagi kad...  DIe blh bawak p mana2 jer area Sydney. Harga pon affordable la rasanya, considering high cost of living kat Sydney ni..mana ade benda yg murah melampau  kan...?


Kami pon dengarlah cerita tentang 3 sisters from Mr
Khairul Baji ni. Kebetulan die tngh tunggu group die mai dari
mana ntah... So, x payahla kami nak baca kat papan2 tu..he..he..

Lepas dengar cerita, kami teruskan aktiviti. Nak try one of the walkways yg ade kat sini...Nak tngk 3 sisters dari jarak yg lebih dekat...


Pintu masuk nak ke 3 sisters walk & Giant Stairway
Jom!!!
Tangkap gmbar sat...


Cik Mek ni memang suka trekking... Setakat yg ini, kat
celah gigi yo...ha..ha..

Masa kat sini landai aje, sampai ke stairway, adoila mak..teringat plak memanjat Great Wall kat Beijing...



Tu, check point 1...he..he..


Mereka semua turun sampai ke bawah2 lagi, tp mak sampai checkpoint 1 cukupla.. penat ah... nasib baik sejuk...he..he...

Lepas trekking, kami naik balik ke Honeymoon Lookout dan makan ler.. Lepas tu solat.... Lepas ni nak ke Scenic World....
Jom makan...
Citer Scenic World sambung lepas ni ya.. banyak sangatla plak rasanya....:)

Thursday 12 June 2014

SYDNEY (PART 3: MADAMME TUSSAUDS SYDNEY, SYDNEY AQUARIUM N SYDNEY TOWER)

It was about 3.30 pm when we arrived at our hotel. Keep our shopping stuff, solat skejap and by 4.45 mcm tu we were already at Darling Harbour. We walked to the harbour as it was just a stone's throw away from our hotel. If u wanna take a cab, it would cost u about AUD6.50 (from our hotel la...he..he..). Teksi kat Sydney cepat betol meter die jalan, mcm air lajunya...hihihi....


So, sampai Darling Harvor, memang org ramai..Ntah kenapa it reminded me of N Seoul Tower plak where people loafing around with kids, friends and family members feeling so happy and carefree.... Tanpa melengahkan masa, tangkap gambar sat.

Nmpk choo choo train itu? AUD5 regardless where u stop.
Konsepnya once u hop, AUD5.
U cn also refer to the signage
For direction but the tourist
Info centre is just around the
Corner.

One of the recreational xtvts here on a Sunday

Another type of xtvt
Twilight @ Darling Harbor. Stunning!
Then, we walked to Madame Tussauds Sydney (MTS).  It is located on the eastern side of Darling Harbour to the north of the Pyrmont Bridge.To go to MTS, u just follow the signage to the aquarium. Memang x ada sign Madamme Tussauds, cume ada sign aquarium tu, kite ikot jer, coz sebelah2.  We bought the 5 in 1 attraction tickets. Harganya AUD63 for 5 attractions. Can be bought online only for the discounted price. Kalau belik 3 in 1 pon AUD 63, if 4 in 1 pon AUD 63, 5 in 1 pon sama juga harganya....  Actually the 3 attractions are next to each other except for Sydney Tower (kat belakang sikit) and Manly Sealife (kena naik feri).

MTS opening time is from 9:00am to 8.00pm, with last admission at 7.00pm, every day of the year. Jom masuk tengok2 dalam Madame Tussauds Sydney...

Antara yang kami x kenal... perhaps explorers of Oz kot...



Antara yg dikenali....hehehe...

Kenalkan.... ?
Antara aksi berangan pula...
MJ: 3 dif faces

Actually, I've been to the one in Bangkok (click here for recap) but since ade permintaan dari gang rombongan, so bolehla masuk lagik sekalik...(Sepatutnya post Thailand tu dibahagi dua, tp x ada masa nak buat lagi..he..he.. so, cerita ke Madame Bangkok tu nun di bawah skalik ya!) Overall, figurines lebih kurang sama cuma mcm di Bangkok banyak ada patung2 org tempatan mereka, dan di Sydney banyak ade patung org tempatan mereka... Tapi, kat Bangkok ada Tun M...kat Sydney x ade plak nampak...he..he... My friend's daughter was looking forward to see One Direction's wax figures but too bad mereka dah balik UK ler, kakak!... hihihi...x pa, nanti u p Madame Tussauds London, mesti ada!

We're proud of u, Tun! @ Madame Tussauds Bangkok (2011)
I'm so surprised when they don't sell signature
Madame Tussauds FM here...ape daaa....!!!
Lepas posing2 with the mannequins, kami p sebelah...Sydney Sealife Aquarium. Ala2 KLCC..mcm2 hidupan laut ade...Oklah, x la outstanding sangat..biasa2 ja...he.he... opening hours: 9am - 8.00 pm.  Jom layan gambar.








Last sekali, kami pergi Sydney Tower. Sama sejibon mcm Skypoint kat Gold Coast. Kami pergi tower ni last skalik coz mereka buka sampai malam. Masa nak naik ke atas tu, kami mcm nak sesat pon ade, coz x ade sangat signboard menunjukkan ke Sydney Tower. Sydney  Tower terletak dlm bangunan Westfield.

Bezanya di sini dan di GC ialah kat sini ada 4D show (inclusive in yr ticket fee)... lepas tngk 4D show, kami layanla pemandangan sekitar Sydney di waktu malam. Personally, view kat Gold Coast lagi cantik kot, coz blh nampak Surfer's paradise...memang sangat cantik... In addition, kat GC lebih friendly, ada org sambut, bawak kite naik...tangkap gambar..Yg di Sydney ni mcm hidup segan mati x mau sikit...hihihi.... opening hours: 9 am - 10.30 pm.

This way to Westfield
Westfield ni bangunan
Shopping complex. Klu dkt GC dulu.
Skypoint dlm kaw residential.
Shopping complex ala2 Starhill n Pavi. Tp waktu kami sampai
semua dh tutup. . Tutup kol 5 kan....
Some info on the tower adapted from Wiki: Sydney Tower is Sydney's tallest building and the third tallest in Australia. However by non-floor height or spire height, it is the second tallest in Australia. It is also the second tallest observation tower in the Southern Hemisphere.


Journey to the peak only takes u a few seconds.
 Berdengung telinga....
Ade jugak Petronas KLCC sini.....:)
Enjoying the night view
Sydney Metropolitan
Habis tengok2 view Sydney di waktu malam, perut pon dah melapar, so kami pon singgah kedai semalam.. makan la..ape lagik... 


That's the end of our day..Fuhhh....What a day! 

OVERNIGHT AT THE BERBER DESERT CAMP

Selepas lunch, kami teruskan lagi perjalanan yang panjang sampai lah petang.  Look at the view.. Magnificent!  We crossed the High Atlas Mou...

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