Oz day 10 - Darling-ly Manly

After an exhausting day at the fish market, it was time for Manly beach (Moo's recommendation) -where boys turn into men.

In 1787, Captain Arthur Phillip of the Royal Navy left England with a fleet of ships to establish a colony in New South Wales. He was to be it's first Governor.
In January 1788, the fleet arrived at its destination, Botany Bay, which was found to be unsuitable for settlement. So, on 21 January, Phillip with others travelled north and examined Port Jackson, so named by Captain James Cook in 1770. They spent three days exploring Port Jackson and Phillip, impressed by the "confidence and manly behaviour" of a group of aborigines in the northern reaches of the harbour, called the place "Manly Cove".

Taken from Manly's website

Manly is reachable by the ferry which leaves Circular Quay at every 20min past the hour. You have a choice of going by the Manly jetcat (speedy boat) or the old skool way of ferries. We got up around 9, and went for some breakfast at the Museum Train station, which was diagonally located to our hotel. After some confusion/debate with the station master,we bought the day combination ticket for all rail & ferries at AU 12. We chugged our way to Circular Quay and got off at 10am, which was fairly good time and I was quite proud

Then I realized I left my rings on the bedside table.

AGAIN.So we rushed back on the train, got off at the wrong exit and I ran 3 blocks back to the hotel, by this time it was getting quite late and I was afraid that housekeeping had already been in our rooms and made off with my rings.Thank god it was there, and after catching my breath, headed back to Museum station. Drama over.

Some say that the journey to Manly is half the fun of actually being there, and I must admit that I agree. I ran straight in as the gates to the ferry opened up (kiasu what) and bagged seats on the top open air balcony of the ferry. And I had the best 20min ferry ride of my life..and some absolutely amazing pictures of the Opera House and Harbour Bridge…



It moves! Scroll quickly - sequence of pictures taken 2 minute apart






Ta-da!


Blown over. There were loads of sailing going around that day.

After a very pleasant 20min ferry ride, the Manly Pier was in sight


The terminal itself is quite happening, with loads of shops and restaurants. We did not make it to the Ocenarium due to lack of funds,but headed towards Manly beach with its strip of surferchick shops


I'm dead obsessed with Mambo - my first bikini was from mambo and I bought another one from Mambo this time around

We had a very pleasant lunch at Café Rouge, facing the main Manly beach

My Fish n Chips - looks really healthy


Bacon's grilled sardines with kibielsa sausage

We went for a stroll down the beach after lunch,trying to find a nice spot to camp. Due to me being an idiot, we did not bring books to read or towels to sleep on - my bag can only carry that much stuff!
.
Butts sunning.

So I left Bacon on the beach, and went off in hunt for a beach towel. I returned an hour later with a new pair of shoes,a wallet for me and a wallet for bacon. No beach towel in sight. Extremely shameful.Oh, and a large smoothie.


I heart smoothie


He was bribed to pose(ur) for this 'manly' shot


Later in the afternoon...

My poor shopped-out feet.Even my brand new Birkenstocks couldn't save it from being shredded to pieces.


We laze around the beach without a towel and with sand getting into every nook and cranny - it was a nice sunny day with lovely soft winds from the sea. At around 4pm, the beach started emptying, with daytrippers leaving and those staying on Manly having a drink at the nearest bar as the sun started to be a little tamer.We followed the crowds and rushed into the ferry as it was taking off - I was too tired to snap-happy so was quite content napping in the downstairs bunk. Reached Circular Quay and grabbed the bus back up on Castlereagh…to promptly crash out as soon as I reached the hotel room.

Bacon shook me awake from my reverie around 5.30pm…its time to jalan jalan cari makan (walking around looking for food) again! This time, we braved the unpredictable rain to walk the 20min. stroll to Kings' Cross, the flesh-ier side of Sydney.Where you come across shops that like to Lick


No, they don't sell human lollies.

And tonnes of strip bars sitting side by side with bars with only immaculately groomed men holding hands with each other. Wonder why.

As usual, we argued all the way along the strip, unwilling to be the one choosing the restaurant in fear of choosing something that don't taste good. And then I came across this little cute café, completely crammed inside, there was a piece of paper and a pencil at the entrance and a list of names and seats required.


Go where the locals go. Due to sheer luck, those people who had written their names out had just stepped away, and I was seated 1 min after penning my name in. It was a japanese bento place, and seeing that we weren't that hungry, orderd some gyozas and a set meal to share. I am having difficulty remembering the name of the dish (??skippy??)


Gyozas


Chirashi-something?Tempura veggies & meat topped a bed of rice, it comes with a teapot of something which looks suspiciously like green tea, and you pour it over.Yummilicious, ableit a little strange.


Christmas in Summer V.3 at Kings Cross centre.

After dinner, we walked around a some more, and decided that since we still had the day pass for buses,ferries and trains, would head towards Darling Harbour, this time by ferry.Caught a bus from Kings Cross to Circular Quay and walked through the Library (!!!) which was where I stepped on this amazing lighted floor.


It was a model of Sydney, all lighted up and under your feet!


The Opera House in minime version.


Christmas in the sun V.4, outside the Library

Like I've mentioned earlier, I love ferries, and I must say they are the best photo opp in Sydney,where so much of the attractions are seafront, affording you an interesting view of familiar sights. Due to the lateness (7.30pm) and more importantly, the rain, the upperdeck was quite deserted in this ferry, making it quite romantic actually.We passed by different suburbs of Sydney, and seeing Sydneysiders get off their 'commute' on the ferry to head home made me extremely jealous. Journey to work for me is a 25-minute bus ride through the worst areas of Leeds (I pass by the area where the majority of the 7-11 London bombers were born,bred, and lived). Life sucks, get used to it.


Blowing in the wind.


The Opera House in twilight. Sigh…..so pretty.


I like this shot.It looks like one of those cut-out that you photoshop into a background.


Bridging the twilight


Luna Park - I've not seen the entrance of an amusement park so cute before.Disneyland nonwithstanding.

By the time we got to Darling Harbour, it was too dark for any more pictures. We walked along under the rain to a brewery and had a couple. It's been another long, long day in paradise,and we headed back to the comfort of the hotel at around 9pm

One interesting tip. There are many different ways to get to Darling harbour from the CBD (Central Business District):
Walk: 20 mins
Monorail: 3 mins
Ferry: 30 mins
Bus: Untested
Light Rail: 5 mins + walking time (untested)

But I still say that the best way is the get there by ferry.If that was my commute to work, I would happily look forward to getting into work every day.