The Bush

Yesterday was a very long but rewarding trip to the Bush.  Early morning fog delayed our flight for a couple of hours.  As soon as we were airborne, the beauty of the Sydney area became apparent.  If we think Seattle is a boating capital with our myriad of inland waterways, Sydney takes that a couple of steps further.  From the air we saw the hundreds of inland bays and freshwater rivers that dominate the surrounding area.  I saw some saltwater bays where there were easily 200 boats moored to anchor buoys.  As we headed north, we lost site of the urban area.  Once at Katoomba, we saw the absolute beautiful escarpments that surround the town.  The town is perched on a huge plateau which is surrounded by bush.  Our first landing was at the Middleton Ranch owned and operated by Allan and Suzanne Henderson.  They are fourth generation ranchers in the Scone area.  Scone is also home to lots of Arab rich who buy thousand acre ranches to raise horses.  Scone is the biggest Thoroughbred raising area in Australia.  The Henderson's were a very interesting and wonderful hosts as they regaled us with stories of the bush and their youth.  The next stop was wine country in the Hunter Valley.  Again, a very beautiful area famous for more Aussie wine production.  Today is clear and hot for our bridge climb.  I will post pictures of that in the morning.  Take a look at these photos to see the bush, the Henderson's and the wine country.  More later mates!