Day 20 – November
6, 2018 – Manly and Sydney
It's a little late start this morning …
I think we're all getting tired! And then it took some time to learn
how to maneuver with the train system to go back to the center of
Sydney and ferry across to Manly. Manly is one of Australia's
premier Seaside Villages on a small peninsula bound by the Sydney
Harbour, the Sydney Harbour National Park and the Pacific Ocean.
There are a plethora of retail stores, cafes restaurants and bars.
Nature walks and about 40 beaches surround the village … Manly
Beach being one of the most well-known.
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| Manly Beach |
It was a bit of an adventure at the
entrance to the ferry where the machine said I didn't have enough
money left on my travel card. And by now everyone had already passed
through the turnstile and were already checked in, not realizing my
dilemma. No problem, I'll just top it off at the nearby kiosk.
Only that machine wouldn't accept my credit card and didn't leave any
options for payment! So after more attempts to resolve this problem,
a nice younger couple behind me offered to help, explaining that,
indeed, I did need a pin number. So after explaining I do not have
one, he offered to use his credit card to put the $10 on my travel
card. Great … and I'd just pay him back in Aussie dollars. Only
he absolutely refused any reimbursement saying I simply MUST go and
enjoy Manly!! I'm humbled! We've met so many wonderful people on
this trip.
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| Water Dragon |
So, yes, we did enjoy Manly, walking up
the main mall gawking at the stores until we found this cute little
hole-in-the-wall restaurant facing the beach. The beers, wine and
fish and chips for lunch were wonderful! Afterwards we strolled
the walkway along the beach, stopping after a while for coffee and to
shop at a cute little boutique. While Mary Jo and I were making our
purchases, we heard a lot of hooting and hollering, yelling and
cheering from the coffee/bar place next door. All day we had also
noticed that so many people were dressed up formally … heels, hats,
tuxes, etc. Turns out the first Tuesday in November at 3 p.m. Is
Australia's well-known annual Thoroughbred horse race in Melbourne,
called the Melbourne Cup. This race first started in 1861 and is now
the richest two-mile handicap horse race in the world. Of course it
was over in just three minutes, but Bob and Trudy did get to watch it
on the screen next door.
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| Ah ... Good Coffee! |
We continued walking along the beach,
watching the surfers and enjoying the stately Norfolk Island Pines
with their long, thick, rich forest green needles. Once this entire
area was filled with these trees, but now only a few remain because
of development. Apparently this beach is where the first surfing
contest was held back in 1964. Coming back we stopped to watch a few
street minstrels, picked up a few more things and made our way back
to the ferry and back to Sydney.
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| Mrs. Macquarie's Chair Sydney, Australia |
There we parted ways with Trudy
and Glenn who were off to enjoy a piano concert at The Sydney Opera
House. Richard, Mary Jo, Bob and I walked through the Royal Botanical
Gardens once again, this time to see the famed Mrs. Macquarie's
Chair. Of course, the gardens, the walk along the water, the many
different plants and trees were all gorgeous. While the stone carved
chair itself was nondescript and really rather disappointing, the
view of the bay, the Sydney Opera House and the Sydney Harbour Bridge
were beautiful. This chair was carved out of sandstone rock in the
shape of a bench by convict labor in 1810 for Elizabeth Macquarie,
wife of the Governor of New South Wales at the time. She would sit
at this quite high point of the peninsula and watch the ships come in
from Great Britain as well as enjoy the panoramic views of the
harbors and hillsides beyond. It was indeed a very pleasant spot!
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| White Cockatoo |
But now we walk some more, back to a
train station to find our way “home” to Sydney Olympic Park.
Arriving at Olympic Park Station, a huge terminal with two other
people in the entire 5-acre station, we were within walking distance
of our condo, so we stopped for a delicious hamburger … $16+ worth.
Overall we did find most things both in Australia and New Zealand
quite a bit more expensive than we're used to. One wonders how the
Aussies and Kiwis can afford it with their taxes at well over 50
percent; yet it's not uncommon for residential housing to be a
million dollars or more and, as we experienced, food, clothing, etc.,
were all priced higher than the U.S.
Trudy and Glenn came back from their
adventure at the concert, all excited about the awesome piano concert
at the Opera House. That experience will definitely be a life-long
memory, one that has to be experienced to truly grasp its
awesomeness!
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