Last full day in Sydney, Australia

Tuesday 10/26/10 – Happy Birthday Sharon (Ms. Heyduke)!

This morning we headed off through the CBD to catch a ferry at the Circular Quay to Manly beach.  We stopped at a little outdoor restaurant for “take away” (where you can get “to go” items) and order a breakfast sandwich with Aussie bacon… yummy! Here while eating we noticed how very hurried everyone is in Sydney… lots of hustle and bustle.

But we were enveloped in sunshine and so when we got to the ferry dock we decided to walk over to Mrs Macquaries Point in the Royal Botanic Gardens for some photo ops. From here you have a stunning view of the Sydney Harbor Bridge and the iconic Sydney Opera House. Really hard for us to believe we were there…

We went on to catch the commuter ferry to Manly Beach which is a fantastic way to see the Sydney harbor and its beaches. It was beautiful and cost less about $16 return. They departed every 30 minutes and the ride lasted about 30 minutes.

Manly beach is a beautiful spot… the ferry stops and then you can walk through the Corso (a pedestrian path with shops) to get to the beach. A nice stretch of white sand and rolling waves led to a path that we took over to a nice pocket beach called Shelley Beach where there was a sign about surfing the “foamies”. We walked a bit

Further up the path we saw an interesting lizard and some colorful lorikeets in the wild. Unfortunately one must have found a short on the wire it lit upon as it hung silently while remaining clutched to the wire. Back to the town of Manly we stopped by a fish market where they also will cook the fish for you so we order some fresh fish and chips again (I know we are boring but man they were great).

Then we caught the ferry back to the Quay and walked back to the CBD to find another nice pub called “Century” pub where we sampled more fine Aussie beers such as Boags, and Victoria Bitters.  Deciding not to eat fish and chips again for dinner we headed to Chinatown near the hotel and discovered a really nice Malaysian restaurant called Mamaks where we had our first “roti” which was exquisite.  After diner we headed to the hotel for a sleep and to pack for the cruise.