Bolger Family Travels: Feeling Extra Manly!

The flight from Christchurch to Sydney was uneventful. Getting through security in Christchurch took no time at all – of course, at 5 am the airport is not very crowded, so we were at the gate by 5:15 am for our 7am flight.

Passing through customs in Sydney took a little longer, but still was quick. Whatever striking they were doing when we flew through Sydney to Queenstown must be over.

At Maddy’s recommendation, we purchased Opal passes to ride the train/bus/ferry system in Sydney for reduced fares, spending $40.00 Australian each. We ended up with just over $7.00 each remaining, so we gave the leftovers to Maddy. The train system is wonderful – it’s essentially a subway system, but the train cars are both clean and double decker.

The train ride in was packed, but relatively quick. Maddy went off at Central to train to a stop close to University of Sydney. Carol and I got out at Circular Quay – the heart of Sydney. There was a tourist info centre right across from the train exit, so I grabbed a couple of maps and we headed up to our hotel.

We were staying at the Quay West Suites hotel in the Rocks section of historic* Sydney. Dragging our heavy bags behind us (we had to pack for weather ranging from glaciers to tropical beaches, with everything in-between), we climbed the final two steep blocks up, already hot and sweaty.

* The city was founded in 1788, so “historic” isn’t the same as Europe, or even the eastern US.

Since it was ten am on a Sunday morning, our rooms were not ready yet. So Carol changed in a changing room, while I switched my shoes/socks out in the hallway, rather than drag my bag one more flight up to the changing room.

We hung out, worn out and tired from getting up at the equivalent of 2 am Sydney time in Christchurch. We heard back from Maddy, and headed back down to Circular Quay to meet up with her.

The wharves were packed. When we finally reached the line for the harbour ferry to Manly, the line (actually queue) snaked for a long distance. Maddy was stunned – she had never seen lines like this before in Sydney. But, as I pointed out, it was 90 degrees plus on a three day weekend (Monday was Labour Day). Little did we know it was also the Manly Jazz Festival.

Manly is a beach suburb of Sydney, right on the Tasman Sea (many call it the Pacific Ocean, but technically it’s the Tasman Sea.) (Btw, I’m pretty sure when you see the word “Tasman” you think of the same thing as I do. Click here. Yup, pretty much thought so.

So we went and paid more, although not outrageously more, for the Fast Ferry to Manly, which turned out to be great. The boat was only semi-fast, as we had multiple stops along the way. However, hop-scotching our way through Sydney Harbour proved to be a great way to get a better sense of the huge Harbour. The ferry also went right past the iconic Sydney Opera House, so I got plenty of pictures of it.

(It’s possible that of the 177 photos I took in the three days in Sydney, 88.5 are of the Opera House.)

Our last time in Sydney, which was 1989, did not afford us a great deal of time to explore the huge Harbour. It’s reminiscent of California beach towns – houses piled everywhere for views of the water, some beaches, and lots of people enjoying the sun and sand.

On the way over, we started chatting with two guys ahead of us – one is from Manhattan and was wearing an Eli jersey, whilst the other is a London banker. They were working together on a project with an Australian bank client, and doing some sightseeing when they could. Since Monday was a holiday, they had more time they had expected.

We got to Manly, and it was packed. Manly has a Tasman Sea beach on one side, and the harbour beaches on the west side, with a relatively thin strip of land in between. We crossed over to the ocean side, past shoppes and jazz fest stages with live music, and had lunch at a restaurant with views of the beach. Walking took work, between the heat and the crowds.

The ocean beach was so packed that it makes the Jersey Shore look empty on the 4th of July weekend! Maddy and I swam in the freezing water, while Carol soaked up the sun.

The water was quite cold – remember, it was the first warm day of early spring, but everyone else was braving the water, so we might as well too.

Because of rip tides, the lifeguards set out flags for swimming in between – so the whole beach is NOT open. Anyhow, the beach does go on for a long way, and it was packed with people.

After a while, we crossed back over to the harbour-side and walked along the cliffs until we came to a quiet, small beach. We laid down on the grass on the steep hill above the beach, and I took my first nap of the trip. After a bit, I went swimming between the rocks – a very beautiful beach. We would have gone to some other beaches along the cliffs, but were too hot and tired to make it any further than we did. The harbour water was cold, but not as cold as the Tasman Sea.