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Of course we had to see the strange creatures unique to Australia. One of them just happened to be a hybrid: family sedan mother and muscle car father: a Ford Falcon XR6 Turbo. Living around crocs and kangaroos must do something strange to the engineers here, because a 4.0 liter inline-6 isn't quite enough. It had to be turbocharged, too: 326 hp and 450 Nm place it in—and above—BMW 540i territory. All that for a relative bargain: about USD28,500. As for organic creatures, one of the best places to experience that is a 45-minute drive from Circular Quay (that includes "getting lost" time). Featherdale Animal Park is incongruously located in the middle of a residential area in Blacktown. Petting a koala, feeding kangaroos (including albino variants) and playing "Crocodile Hunter" (well, with the croc behind a double fence, anyway) is literally a walk in the park. Tasmanian devils and duck-billed platypus are among the other strange beasts roaming the park. Another ubiquitous creature is the Filipino settler and entrepreneur, as evidenced at the Blacktown mall. We stopped for directions at a "Philippines take away" store, and the friendly folks soon pointed us in the right direction. The adobo and lumpia looked tempting. Also west of Sydney is the Olympic park, site of the 2000 Olympic Games. The park offers tours of the stadium, including the broadcast centers and the team ready rooms. The impressive Aquatic Center is also worth seeing, even if you're not quite ready to take a dip. If you care to venture further, the Blue Mountains are about three hours away. Similar to the USA's Grand Canyon, the range gets its name from the eucalyptus trees' emissions, which turns the surrounding mist blue. Lacking time, we didn't quite make it there, but we're we could have found it easily—probably. |
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