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Snorkelling with Seals at Montague Island

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I love watching wild animals in their natural habitat. Snorkeling with seals at Montague Island was on top of my bucket list of things to do. It was a long drive down to Narooma on a long weekend, a bit over 5 hours from the lower north shore of Sydney. We took the earliest boat tour with Montague Island Tours as it was meant to be the best time to snorkel with seals. The ocean conditions are usually a bit calmer in the morning which means we could swim at more spots than when the swell picks up. Montague Island Nature Reserve is a protected reserve and home to the largest seal colony in NSW. Due to the lack of predators on Montague Island, seals based there are at the top of the food chain. The highest number of fur seals are seen during winter and spring, but seals reside at Montague Island all year round. Other wildlife around Montague Island includes penguins, dolphins, and many marine and bird life. You can only get to the island with an authorised tour operator which mean...
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Lockley Pylon to Blue Gum Forest Walk

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To escape the heat in Sydney, we did a walk in the Blue Mountains with a very pleasant top temperature of 20 degrees Celsius. However it was forecast to be very windy in the afternoon. We turned off at Leura and drove along the dirt road for about half an hour to the start of the walk. The dirt road was bumpy at parts with pot holes, but it was manageable with a 2WD car. We parked at the car park near The Pinacles. The morning was sunny, but very windy already. I wasn't looking forward to the wind getting any stronger. The walk started with a gradual uphill. Haven't been doing much walks with big climbs and I had been sick with heavy chesty cough all week, I was already puffed out after few minutes of walking. I was thinking to myself, how was I suppose to climb back from Blue Gum Forest. We decided to go up to the top of Lockley Pylon on the way back as the afternoon lighting might be better. We walked past the turn off and continued along the track, whe...
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Kata Tjuta - Valley of the Winds/Walpa Gorge Walk

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Kata Tjuta, also know as the Olgas, means "many heads" in the local language. It consists of an impressive collection of 36 domes caused by weathering and erosion, with the highest dome rising 546m above the plain, 1066m above sea level, and 198m higher than Uluru. It is a less talked about place compared to Uluru. VALLEY OF THE WINDS WALK Valley of the Winds walk was a highlight of Kata Tjuta National Park as it winds through the gigantic domes which made me feel very small among them. It was a more difficult walk in the area as it has steep ascends and descends. Reasonable fitness is required to complete the loop walk, but it's not too difficult. My parents, who were in their 60's, haven't done much bushwalks, were able to complete the whole loop walk without any problems. It was a short and relatively easy walk, about 1.1km, to Karu lookout from the carpark. There was a sign next to this lookout to indicate whether the rest of the t...
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