Australia in December

OK so this is not really Australia... first, after travelling from St Kitts and spending just 2 days on a European timezone, I flew to Guangzhou (Canton), in China, where I saw the inside of the airport and very little else. Fortunately, these spectacular wall pictures showed me what some of the rest of this fascinating country looks like...

Great Wall

They clearly have some seriously cool mountains in China!

Mountains 2

Village

The Imperial Palace, I think

Then it was on to Sydney, where I was privileged to witness the graduation from her vet degree of my good friend Sy Woon. Also pictured is Dr Anne Fawcett, another of Australia's leading veterinary animal ethicists.

I was very pleased to see this. Very frustratingly, I missed my own vet graduation, due to being on the far side of the world at the time.

Then it was onto the Blue Mountains 2 hrs west of Sydney, to link up with Mum here and some of my family. After a weekend catching up and dodging kangaroos on my morning jogs, Mum and I were to take a road trip to the Snowy Mountains. But first we enjoyed a stroll here near Wentworth Falls.

The Three Sisters, seen from Echo Point

The view from from Echo Point. The haze given off by the eucalyptus oil in the leaves gives the Blue Mountains their name. They are filled with mysterious canyons (hence the sport 'canyoning' involving abseiling and inflatable rafts, etc, which my brother David is seriously into). Several people have been lost forever in the trackless vastness below, as once you're under the canopy, it can be very hard to navigate.

Mum and I walked the under cliff trail, just visible half way up the cliff below

The Undercliff Trail to Wentworth Falls

Finally, we made the top of Wentworth Falls, which has a total drop of 187 m

Beyond the falls the path got even more interesting :)

Although the first explorers found it more interesting still, as they chose to descend vertically from above, right here

Nearing the top of the staircase

Sadly time prevented us from descending the staircase here to explore the world far below. Another day...

Then it was on to my brother's quintessentially Blue Mountains wedding

My brother Michael and his lovely wife Mimi. Although a medical doctor, Mike is a complete hippy. I've never seen him so dressed up - awesome bro ;)

Cake cutting

Wedding sunset

Next my long-suffering mother and I headed for the top of Australia's Snowy Mountains. Here she is at Charlotte pass. Long-suffering, as she was keen to go racing off and jog the mountain trails behind, to the very top of Australia on the horizon (where you can see the snow - and it's midsummer!), but due to lack of time I had to prevent her. Mum's an adventure hound... she just hasn't quite admitted it to herself (or anyone else) yet ;)

Charlotte Pass view