Ryan Schmidt traveled around Australia, visiting several famous landmarks. He saw the Blue Mountains, known for their blue haze caused by eucalyptus oil. He also saw the Three Sisters rock formation. Ryan went snowboarding at Thredbo Alpine Resort in the Snowy Mountains and climbed Mount Kosciuszko, Australia's highest peak. In Sydney, Ryan visited iconic sites like the Sydney Opera House and Sydney Harbour Bridge, and climbed the bridge at twilight. He also went to Bondi Beach, one of the world's most famous beaches, located in East Sydney.

1. Australia Scrapbook
By Ryan Schmidt

2. Blue Mountains
The blue mountains were absolutely magnificent. The second that I
entered them I realized the origin of the name, because there was a
blue haze throughout the mountains. I’m told the haze is a result of
the massive amounts of eucalyptus oil in the air.
Three Sisters
In the far left of this picture that I took you can even see the famous
landmark called the “Three Sisters”.

3. S After my tour, on my way to Sydney, I stopped at Thredbo Alpine
N Resort in the Snowy Mountains so I could go snowboarding on the
longest run in Australia and on the highest mountains on the
O Australian mainland.
W
Y
M
O
U
N
T
A
I THREDBO TRAIL MAP
N DOUBLE CHAIRLIFT
QUAD CHAIRLIFT
S TRAIL SIGNS AND SYMBOLS
Toilets Courtesy Tools T Bar Chairlift Mid-Station Race Course Information Ski Patrol Food Outlets Public Phone ATM Parking Shuttle Bus Lockers Ticket Office Ski & Board Hire Snow Sports School Disabled Toilet

4. Mt. Kosciuszko
While at Thredbo I realized that the highest
peak in Australia, Mt. Kosciuszko was only a
short distance away so I decided to climb up to
it. I started by taking a chairlift from Thredbo
followed by a 6km walk to reach the peak at
2228 meters high. At the peak there was a plate
and the base of an old survey trig marker.

5. Sydney
After conquering Mt.
Kosciuszko, I was off to visit
the largest and most famous
city in all of Australia, Sydney.
When I arrived I expected to
experience life in Australia, but
I was surprised to find out that
life in Sydney is almost exactly
like life in America.

6. Sydney
Opera House
While in Sydney I had to visit
several places that are well known
throughout the world, the first of
which was the Sydney Opera House.
It was designed by Danish architect
Jørn Utzon, and finally opened in
1973 nearly 20 years after it was
designed. It sits on Bennelong Point
in Sydney Harbour and ended up
costing nearly 102 million dollars.

7. HARB OUR
E Y BR
N ID
YD G
S
E
E
Me The second place I wanted to visit was the
Sydney Harbour Bridge. Not only did I get to
see this magnificent piece of architecture, I also
got to climb it at twilight for only $268. Opened
in 1932, it is currently the tallest long-span
bridge and is also the tallest steel arch bridge.

8. Bondi Beach
The final place that I wanted to visit was Bondi Beach. It is among the
worlds most famous beaches and it is located in East Sydney. The beach is
around a mile long and has lifeguards all along the beach. There is actually
different hazard ratings depending on which side of the beach your on. The
north side has a calm rating of 4 while the south side has a rating of 7 due to
a famous rip current known as the “Backpackers’ Express”.

9. THE END