Manly "Rocks"

It’s Christina Barber’s birthday today! We are lucky to be able to celebrate her birthday with her after they (Annie and her) are done exploring Syd. Happy 25th birthday Christina!!!

Manly beach. While the name might conjure up Venice beach-like visions of muscle heads throwing around barbells not much could be farther (or is it further?) from the truth. Lesley Robertson, as my resident grammarian, please tell me, “further” or “farther”? Manly beach is a quaint seaside area near Sydney filled with little shops and cafes and a world-class beach. This is off-season in Oz so the swarm of humans/tourists is low - still, there were a good number of people out enjoying the 70/21 degrees and sunshine.

Now, my son Brandon informs me that my blogs are too long for him to read so I am going to try a more visual blog with pictures including brief captions. Note to Brandon: College students that don’t like to read are probably destined to live life with a shovel in their hands. On to the pics of our day’s journey….

Our journey began with a ferry from Balmain East to Circular Quay (the main ferry hub for Sydney)

We passed under the harbour bridge where we got a good look at the Opera House from under the bridge. We also got a close-up look at the Aussie flags flying on top of the bridge and there were fit people doing the bridge climb (look like ants).

Entering Circular Quay we passed the very cool area known as “The Rocks”.

In Circular Quay we caught the Manly ferry (F1). This ferry boat is much, much larger than the little guys we normally putz around in -- three stories with a cafe, television, and like all the ferries wi-fi. The views from the boat were great. Here we have a reverse angle of the Opera House and Harbour bridge and a cool shot of a sailboat cruising by....

You arrive in Manly (after a 30 minute ferry ride) at Manly Wharf with a couple dozen shops and restaurants...all under cover...all pretty cool (if you're not from Sydney). You step off the wharf, cross the street, and enter the Manly Promenade. The Prom is about 5 or 6 block long, no cars (though wide enough for 4 lanes) and scores of shops, cafes, groceries, etc. It's awesome even though my photographs suck pretty badly.

The beach is wide and deep (no idea how wide but LARGE) with perfect sand, nice waves, surfers and amazing views. There are apartment buildings all along the waterfront road as well as stores, cafes, you name it. We're still considering this as a place to live.

Not far from Manly beach (15 minute stroll along the ocean) is Shelly Beach. Our friend Hilda suggested we walk down there and get a bit some nibbles and nosh at a local cafe. We did that although the cafe was closed for repairs we hung out on the beach for a bit and encountered this gigantic pelican. So huge! I'm a bit fixated on birds and this one certainly caught my attention. His eye had to be the size of a saucer and his bill held gallons and gallons easily.

We had a hankering for Japanese food and decided to have a nice meal in The Rocks area of Sydney. The Rocks is “high-tone” for our Japanese readers; swish for our Aussie friends; posh for our American viewers. We ate at a Japanese fusion place named “Sake” and enjoyed some truly exceptional Japanese food. Sashimi appetiser followed by wagyu beef carpaccio, pork belly skewers (kushiyake) and seared scallops in a ginger/miso cream sauce. Oh my - yum!

There you go blog stalkers. Back to Fishermen's Wharf today for lunch. Can't wait!