Saturday, July 21, 2012

Walk no. 11 - Manly to Spit Bridge: 20 July 2012

Bavarian bears wear interesting shorts!
Another 'guest' walker today - this time Suzi joined me in one of her favourite walks around Sydney, the harbour walk between Manly and Spit Bridge.
Tide was out so we were able to rock and sand hop along the beach
and not follow the dog route.
North and South head and strangely, the Manly
Catamaran is running
Our walk got off to a slow start - first the 'really regular' bus from Darlinghurst to Circular Quay took ages to arrive, then heavy traffic meant that walking to CQ just might have been faster, and once at the ticket office, we were told that the Manly ferry wasn't running because there was a power outage! So we immediately jumped on one of the special buses and did a 'no stops' ride to Manly (still not sure what the man who only wanted to go 'two stops' thought of it - the bus didn't stop til it reached Manly).
Once at Manly we 'needed' a 'pre-walk' coffee and cake, but the Bavarian Bear restaurant on the wharf (see first photo) also had no electricity. What was weird was how come the Catamaran was running?
We did eat at a dodgy cafe near the aquarium, won't be recommending that place to anyone, but it did have electricity.
And finally we were on our way.
The walk was great, up and down, pretty well signposted, and stunning views at almost every turn.

I love this photo looking towards the 'neck' of Manly with the ocean behind
Almost half way on our 7km walk.
What else, a kookaburra. I just love these birds.
Suzi on her way to the beach
Seagull sunning itself on the beach
Doggies on the beach
Somewhere around Clontarf we found a 'doggie' beach - it kept Suzi happy! A couple of dog walkers had about 8 dogs between them and the dogs were having a ball. Really easy to pick their personalities (with regards how much they like/don't like to run) by watching their 'ball chasing' skills. Needless to say, when you are with a doggie person, you will spend a goodly amount of time watching dogs! These two big dogs were gorgeous though.

Crossing the Spit Bridge, we were assured by the bridge controllers that it was safe to cross even though the 'red man' was flashing. They were right, the bridge didn't open while we were crossing, but did very soon after. I think its just a game they play, to see if they can catch pedestrians who dilly dally while crossing!







Finished our walk with a huge fish and chips meal (we think well deserved!) and an added interest in kayaking around the harbour.
The walk was great, and of course we managed to talk non-stop the whole way!

Wednesday, July 18, 2012

Walk no. 10: Curl Curl to Manly - hooray - a milestone!


Walk no. 10. 
Today, with my constant companion Ryan, we walked from Curl Curl to Manly, (not quite to to North Head - can only 'encourage' Ryan for so long before we reach the 'are we there yet' part of the walk), and so have finished the last of the coastal section of the walk for a while. Now we'll turn inland and walk along harbour paths until we reach South Head, many, many kilometres away......
I took a photo of Ryan at the start of the walk
so I would know what street to return to to
find the car............
The sea pool at the southern end of Curl Curl beach.
Surfers at Curl Curl Beach
Same surfers, further along the wave - what a gorgeous day!



Ryan on the boardwalk
 As we walked further south, we found a lovely board walk that hugged the cliff - and meant that I could see Ryan in the distance (unlike the last walk where I lost him in the bush).
As we rounded the point towards Freshwater, there were lots of rock fishermen/women trying to catch dinner. I didn't clamber down to check their catches, but was envious.
Rock fishers at Freshwater, North Head in the far distance.


Romance by the sea

Freshwater

Sewage outlets at Freshwater (?) - now what is wrong with that sentence??
 Just for fun I took this series of photos while we walked along Freshwater - hope you like them.....and no, I'm not stalking him, just trying to keep up!

This is such a Ryan look....




Chilling at Freshwater

Do the right thing in Manly
Manly beach (left), and North Steyne beach (right)

Is this the way to the gelato shop??
Things special about this walk: once again, Curl Curl has it's own sea pool - I think that every single beach I've passed through on this Blog Walk has had it's own sea pool - how lucky; Freshwater is as lovely a beach as I remember it when I used to take the boys when they were little; Manly is a stunning beach and whenever I see Norfolk Island Pines I think of Manly; managed to get off at the correct bus stop; love the beachy feel of Manly.

We walked to the Ferry Terminal, caught our bus back to the car, and next time, I'll be starting at the Ferry Terminal and enjoying harbour views for quite a few kilometres.