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!