Sydney's Manly Beach - Mar 5

Summary: Santa Manlyca, it's 4am - do you know where your rugby players are?, Manly, Ferry to Sydney

Today was an easy, short, lazy day. We took a bit of a long way to Manly past some of the beach cities north of Manly. Manly has a bit of a surf culture and a bit of a Bohemian culture. First off, the geography is unique and quite interesting. On one side of a narrow isthmus, it is a marina facing Sydney Harbour. On the other side, it is a beach on the Ocean (Tasman Sea if you believe my maps). The first thing that hit me was that I wondered what it would take to put a little, interesting neighborhood like this in Canberra. (Canberra could use some street gangs too, but maybe that's taking things a step too far) On initial impact, this reminds me of Santa Monica. None of these American comparisons are spot on and this might be the most inexact. You can't go to Santa Monica without meeting a panhandler asking for money, often with a pre-made sign admitting that the money will be used to buy beer. There are not as many panhandlers in all of Australia as there are in Santa Monica and I did not see any in Manly. If you put that aside, it has a surf culture, a cool promenade, and separately an attractive waterfront. The promenade is nice, but the parallel streets are a little more shady. This is where I am seeing Santa Monica. I also get the feeling that the houses are outrageously expensive (leading one to the think of the end of SM closest to Malibu). Glad Dave liked the photos in Sydney Harbour - it is more of the same beautiful waterfront homes in Manly too. Just amazing the whole way around the harbour, really.

Quick aside before I get on with my story - the big news in Sydney this week is about a few rugby players shot at in King's Cross (the shady side of town) at 4am Monday morning. While Aussie Rules Football is The Game in Victoria, up here in New South Wales it is Rugby. Anyhow, half of the radio call-in shows are spending their time talking about the players' responsibility not to go out late at night while others are saying that you ought to be able to walk the streets at any hour and not get shot at. It certainly exercises a lot of people here. The other big news was a death because of bad medical care and a lot of finger pointing. Sad case, really. Anyhow, that is what has Sydney talking. Radio stations in Australia do not have the sort of political or even sports opinion content the US has. For the most part, it is just the facts. Any "talk" format would be morning or evening drive time with jokes and news. One guy here in Sydney has something that resembles opinion talk, but his opinion is that whoever he is interviewing (left, right, or otherwise) is a jerk who thinks we are all idiots. Funny for the first segment, but pretty quickly you find yourself rooting for whoever he is interviewing, such as the Labor NSW Tourism Minister (for example) this morning. Then you go back to music. Oh well, I didn't come for the talk radio.

I came (at least in part) for the beaches. Manly delivered. We walked out onto the beach, put down our towel and went straight into the water. By the time we left the place was pretty full for a Wednesday morning in March, so I can only imagine what Saturdays (in January) are like. (Yes, I know the photos do not really look packed) The water was a little cold, but the waves were good (not too much for Alex) and the surfers were mostly about 100 meters away. Nice clean sand, clear water (especially for an ocean - with real waves), great cliffs on either side of us, and cool little coffee-shop / kebab-stand laden street behind us - it was a good scene. After a short time in the water, my "24" clock was clicking in the back of my head. No matter how much sunscreen Alex and I put on, time at the beach has to be concise. Another thing is that when you are in the water with a child watching your backpack on a popular beach, you don't exactly relax much. Anyhow, we had our fun in the sun and we went through the town. Neither of us were hungry and a ferry to Sydney beckoned. Alex likes boats, I love Sydney, and he can't get into too much trouble on a big ferry. No slight on Manly, just the parental impetus to keep moving and throw one bag in the car. So we took the ferry, Alex loved it, and the views were good. There was a sincere ocean swell crossing the open area exposed to the ocean, then we were going back through familiar sights of Sydney Harbour. What an amazing, beautiful harbour. Anyhow, we landed, walked up to the Rocks, found a German place, and had our lunch. (the first two photos below are of The Rocks) Actually, I had our lunch. Alex mostly let the mushrooms - that he normally eats too fast - run through his fingers as he played with them. It was not really what I had in mind, but it did make the Paulaner Wiessbier taste even better. We walked around a bit more, but I could sense that we were on the verge of a nap (or a prolonged whining period), so we took the ferry back. He whined then slept on the drive back. We did play in a playground for a little but he was mostly done for the day.

Manly is a good beach and will become a regular feature on future visits to Sydney. It is less overtly trendy than Bondi if I remember correctly, and that is a big part of the appeal. Yes it is a tourist spot, but it is not overrun with cliche tourist traps. It has a good vibe and is well worth the visit if you are in town for a few days. Most visitors won't have a car, so it is quite convenient by ferry from Circular Quay downtown (next to the Opera House). And the ferry is quite cheap as well, which I appreciated.

Tonight, Alex will spend time with the kids and I will try my darnedest to help with dinner (for once). Anyhow, should be a fun relaxing evening (for me, anyhow).

Tomorrow: Gotta figure out a morning program, then Bondi in the afternoon after I drop off Alex with Mikaela (if you notice my spelling changing, just remember the original name is in Cyrillic letters so you can get away with freelancing a little). I MUST figure out what she would like.