Summer Saturday in Manly Beach

We wake early (not on purpose!) and have a relaxing morning in our apartment here in Sydney.  Connie slept well on the rollaway bed that we had obtained for her.  Our first objective today is to find the bronze statue that had been sculpted by Rob's cousin, Arthur Sherman.  It is in an outdoor area by the Darlinghurst Post Office on Oxford Street.  As it turns out, we had walked right by it on our first night in Sydney without seeing it.  It is a little off the street, so you wouldn't usually notice it if you weren't looking for it.  The statue is a representation of the birth of Australia and is very impressive.  Here are two photos that I took.  Rob took plenty more.

Our next objective is to visit Manly Beach, so we get ready and head for Circular Quay, where we will catch the ferry that will take us there.  As we walk across Hyde Park, which is really lovely, we are waylayed by the central monument, which is a tribute to the fallen and veterans of World War I, called the ANZACs.  It is built in the Art Deco style and is very nice inside with a small museum.  We continue walking through the park, admiring the giant fig trees, Hills Figs.  We stop for more photos at the fountain, then onto Circular Quay.

Manly Beach is on the ocean, just north of North Head, which with the opposite South Head is the entrance to Sydney Harbor from the Pacific Ocean.  The ferry ride is nice and provides good views of Sydney.  It takes about one half hour to reach the Manly ferry station.  The boat is somewhat crowded as we realize that going to the beach on a sunny Summer afternoon is naturally what many Sydney residents would want to do themselves.  That's okay -- it is not too crowded and kind of makes for a festive atmosphere.  When we arrive, we walk along the street called the Corso which connects the harbor side of Manly, where the ferry terminal is located, to the ocean beach.  The beach is beautiful!  Lots of people enjoying this day!  We find a restaurant on the street overlooking the beach where with can have lunch.  Rob has a smoked chicken salad on pita (which is really a tortilla), and Connie and I each have fish and chips.  After lunch we walk up and down the beachside promenade, then head back to the harbor.  

The harbor area has a lovely waterside walk that Rob and I partially walked in 2006 and were looking forward to walking along again.  Connie was eager to do this walk, too!  So we walk along with the water and smaller beaches on one side and house and apartments along the other.  We see a swimming area that is blocked in to stop the waves and the sharks, where people can swim laps.  We we walk along, I stop to take a picture of the opening in the land where the Pacific Ocean meets the harbor:

When we finish our walk, we board the ferry for the return ride to Sydney.  As we experienced on our ride here, the ferry ship experiences some pretty big rolling from the large waves coming into the harbor from the Pacific.  It is a little thrilling and a little scary, but we are in no danger.  It is nice to know there are personal flotation devices underneath our seats.

Back in Sydney, we decide to take a roundabout walk back to the hotel and head for the Sydney Botanic Gardens.  As always, the gardens are beautiful and immaculately maintained.  We exit the gardens and cross into the next park known as the Domain.  From here we can cross the street and head back into Hyde Park.

For dinner tonight, we stop at the grocery store and get an assortment of foods to enjoy in our apartment with Australian wine and the women's final of the Australian Open tennis tournament (Serena Williams wins over Maria Sharapova).  At about 9pm, we hear the sound of fireworks and leap to the window to watch a great fireworks display at Darling Harbor.  What a treat!