Manly-Day Fourteen

Sydney is a big city. I found that out when I decided to reduce my carbon footprint and walk to the Circular Quay (pronounced 'key'). I'm thinking maybe it would take me thirty minutes to get there. I wanted to check out the city as I walked before I headed out to Manly Beach north of Sydney Harbour on the ferries.

Jeez it took an hour! Heck, actually a bit more. I wanted to catch the 10:00 ferry and left at 9:30, but I ended up getting the 11:00 ferry. It was a great walk though to check out the city, the people, the stores, the restaurants...everything. When I got to the ferries, I was ready for a rest and waited. Circular Quay has about 5 wharfs that the ferries dock at and frequently cross the Sydney Harbour. I wanted to head to Manly 'cuz I heard it was an awesome beach. I was gonna do Bondi Beach, the most famous in Sydney, but I really wanted to do a ferry ride and check out the Sydney Opera House and Harbour Bridge from the water.

I was not disappointed. It was a bright sunny day, about 72 degrees, and the views were fantastic. Ferry ride to Manly is highly recommended if you want great views of the city and its architectural icons. The ferry was full of families and teenagers heading out to the ocean. Once I got to Manly, I instantly liked it. Great beach town with lots of shops and restaurants and a FANTASTIC beach. I changed into my suit and ran out to to the water. The water was calm and clear and aqua blue. Freezing, but I was so excited to be swimming I didn't care. I swam and relaxed on the beach for a couple of hours and people watched, grateful for an awesome day. I went and got some lunch at the fish market and went shopping. Manly has great shops for souvenirs and really cheap so I loaded up.

While I was shopping I noticed that the shopping square was starting to fill up with lots of people wearing maroon and white. I asked a local what the deal was and apparently the Manly Sea Eagle Rugby Team was gonna parade within the square because they won the national championship...by a land slide. 40-0 against Melbourne and they were the underdogs predicted to loose. I had heard that they won and they were partying at one of the condos on the beach for the past three days (they won on Sunday), but I didn't really pay much attention to it. So they won what was equivalent to us back in the states as the Super Bowl. Needless to say, it was a hottie parade. I am now an official Manly Sea Eagle fan. I'll be starting a fan club back in Austin ladies, http://www.manlyseaeagles.com.au/default.asp.

Anyway, I enjoyed the festivities for a bit at the square and then hopped back on the ferry to get back to town. Again the view was fabulous and lovely. When I got off the ferry I decided to do the train and buses back. I was tired of walking, andI had another full day tomorrow. Once showered I headed out to find me some grub. I was in the mood for Indian food and I had seen a couple of places in my 'hood. I found a place called Nawan, or something like that. The food was good, but overpriced and really bad service...:-(. Oh well. Another day...and tomorrow was my last....