Frances & I have had a lovely long weekend with lots more sightseeing in and around Sydney.

On Friday we went to Taronga Zoo and had a marvellous day meeting lions, tigers, elephants and giraffes as well as some Australian wildlife – kangaroos, echidnas and koalas.  The koalas were definitely the cutest animals (I want to take one home in my backpack!), but the giraffe enclosure had the best views over Sydney Harbour:

Giraffe at Taronga Zoo

Then on Saturday we travelled to Cockatoo Island, an island in Sydney Harbour which has at various points been used as a prison, a school and a shipbuilding centre.  Currently it’s hosting the Biennale of Sydney, a festival of contemporary art where the artworks are installed in and around the old prison and factory buildings.  It’s a pretty amazing event and it was hard to know what to look at first – the artworks or the grand, faded industrial buildings and equipment.

Biennale of Sydney artwork

“Cockatoos” on Cockatoo Island

On Sunday we travelled out of Sydney to the (extremely chilly!) Blue Mountains.  We checked out the beautiful scenery around the Three Sisters and took a very steep funicular railway, before exploring the towns of Katoomba and Leura.

Three Sisters

Frances & I wrapped up warm at the Blue Mountains