Sydney Holiday 1 - The City
We spent some July time in Sydney on holiday from the garden. Naturally I kept up a diary - here are some of my scribblings about staying in the city...
Sydney Harbour Bridge
We did some down-town Sydney city things - taking the ferry from Manly to Circular Quay, zooming straight through a huge yacht race. We watched the bridge walkers on the Sydney Harbour Bridge (too scary), and enjoyed the architecture shell shapes of the Opera house and the high-rise skyline. We took a suburban train trip past backyards, car lots, graffiti fences, bush, and roads. We drove past the Olympic Stadium complex. We bumbled around the Botanic Gardens, staring at green spiky plants and green palm trees, listening to shrieking birds...
Sydney Skyline
Coming into the city on the Manly ferry was really exciting - Sydney seems so spacious, prosperous, shining and warm - welcoming its visitors and tourists (but make sure you bring a bit of money, a water bottle and good walking shoes). Sydney is a good city for staring and gazing at horizons - the harbour is beautifully big, the sky above seems huge...
Sydney Palms
We stayed in Manly, just one block from the ocean.
Winter images of mellow Manly, a beach suburb of Sydney - a huge blue sky stretching forever - so much space for high-rise apartment blocks and cafes - the bright yellow boards of the surf school, sea-herds of black bobbing surfers waiting for waves - beach volleyball courts, pollution swim-warning signs, recycling rubbish bins, no dogs allowed on the beach but - hey! No problem! Manly dogs going for civilised walks up and down the wide beach footpaths in the low mid-winter sun. No rush, nothing too random, no need for barking - small and medium dogs all on leashes with huge dog-smiles...
Manly Beach
Warm low sun, gentle wind off the ocean, golden groomed sand. People - runners, walkers, strollers, couples, padded-up roller-bladers in pink safety helmets, teenagers (texting) wearing pastel blue Ug boots, dads with toddlers, mums, grannies, old people, tourists (e.g. Moosey), surfers in black wetsuits padding across the grass, boards tucked underarms...
We walked down the beach to a sheltered cove called Shelley Bay past a natural sea water swimming pool and many park benches dedicated to dearly departed ex-residents. It was confusing at first reading the inscriptions - for example, there's a seat for 'Fred... a Manly resident...' - I imagined Fred with bristling biceps looking strong and masculine... Silly tourist!
Footnote
The day after we left Manly - in came a rainstorm, down went the temperature, some Manly roofs were blown off, and the Manly ferries were cancelled because the swell and waves were too big!