St Mary's Cathedral

St Mary's is a beautiful cathedral in Sydney's central business district, next to Hyde Park. It has the greatest length of any church in Australia. The stain glass windows are particularly beautiful. A real work of art.

Ebenezar Church

This was part of a photography trip to Hawkesbury including Windsor Junk Yard, Ebenezer Church, Richmond and autumn leaves.

Mudgee

Mudgee was our last stop on our trip before heading back to Sydney.  This town is most famous for its surrounding vineyards.  Needless to say, we visited some of them and tasted some lovely wines.  My favourite was the Sparkling Shiraz - absolutely delicious it was.  The chap in charge of the final cellar we visited was presidedly tiddly (it was New Year's Day after all) and he allowed us to pour our own wine to taste while belting out some loud songs.  

The town itself was very attractive with some lovely buildings and churches.  On New Year's Day it was like a ghost town with everything shut except a local pub where we enjoyed a nice lunch.

St Mary's Cathedral

St Mary’s is the largest church in Australia. It is located in the heart of the City of Sydney where, despite the high rise development of the CBD, its imposing structure and twin spires make it a landmark from every direction. In 2008, St. Mary's Cathedral became the focus of World Youth Day 2008 and was visited by Pope Benedict XVI. It really is a beautiful cathedral.

Nan Tien Buddhist Temple

Ally and I noticed this temple on the way to Kiama and dediced to stop for a viewing. Turned out to be a photographer's paradise though we were not there long enough to give it justice (Mack was in the car.) Nan Tien Temple is the largest Buddhist Temple in the Southern Hemisphere and is a serene and beautiful place. The vegertarian cafee does delicious (and cheap) vegetarian food which we sampled.

Lake Titicaca (Bolivia)

Lake Titikaka is the highest navigable lake in the world at an altitude of over 3800 metres. I was lucky to visit the highest lake in the world (Lake Telicho, 6700 metres) in Nepal in 2001 so was thrilled to add this lake to my list of explored spots.

Lake Titikaka is enormous (190 kms long, 80 kms accross, 180 metres deep) and looks more like a sea than a lake. It is a beautiful area, fringed by snow capped mountains and dotted with Islands.

We visited the city of Copacabana on the shores of the lake, then did a 17 km hike to a nearby village where we caught a boat to the Isla del Sol, famous for being the birth place of the Inca sun.

On out bus trip to Copacabana, we had to catch a ferry across the lake. As you can see, the ferry was barely big enough to carry our bus!

The Virign Mary was spotted in Copacabana some years back, causing a massive sensation and attracting thousands of pilgrims. An impressive cathedral was built on the spot. Each Saturday, the locals bless the vehicles (cars, buses, motorbikes) in the area of the cathedral with flowers and beer. They pour litres of beer on the wheels and bonnets. It was quite painful to see such copious amounts of delicious beer being spilled!

From Copacabana, we did a tiring 17 km hike to another village on the lake shores. It was not a steep hike, but the 3800 metre altitude took its toll. The hike provided gorgeous scenery.

The wildlife along the way was not too wild but the elpacas and sheep were very cute. I felt a bit guilty when I tucked into a huge elpaca steak later. It was too delicious for the guilt to last though. As the saying goes, I didn´t fight my way to the top of the food chain to be a vegetarian!

We did see some birds too including this Swainsons Hawk and American Harrier.

We then caught a boat to the south of Isla del Sol and chatted to friendly fellow backpackers on the way. We also got to a strange local boat made entirely of reeds.

The island is bleak but has a stark beauty and is dotted with Inca ruins (the first we have seen on our trip). We stayed the night in a hostel in the south with a breath taking view. The next day, we did a hike along the length of the island, exploring the vistas and ruins along the way.

We came accross these two kids on our trip - a brother and sister. Very cute.

The Inca ruins were not particularly impressive - but the first we had seen so exciting nevertheless. A good warm up for Machu Pichu to come. The temple at the north of the island was the most impressive - a layrinth of rooms and pathways with great views over the lake.

The locals love their dogs and puppies abound. This little fellow really caught my heart.

And what would a blog posting be without a giant leap.