It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas, even in this warm, sunny city. This Christmas tree is eight metres tall (26 feet) and assembled with more than 7,000 recycled cola bottles. 
A sign indicates that the tree is lit at night. Very neat!
An outing isn't complete without a ferry ride, and yet another picture of the Sydney Opera House.
A sign indicates that the tree is lit at night. Very neat!
An outing isn't complete without a ferry ride, and yet another picture of the Sydney Opera House. 
And another picture of Sydney's impressive CBD.
Today's destination was Manly, a half hour ferry ride east of the CBD. Interestingly, long ago, a colonial governor visited the area and chose the name Manly Cove because the indigenous men had "confidence and manly behavior." At Manly Wharf, this bookmobile is handy for commuters who might want to pick up a good read for their ferry ride.
From the wharf we walked the Corso to Manly Beach. At the time the beach was overcast with just a few surfers.
We followed the bicycle/pedestrian path along the ocean and then looked back toward Manly Beach. Beautiful!
Celina and I hiked through Sydney Harbour National Park,
heading to
and this gorgeous cliffside view toward Sydney.
This was our favorite ocean-viewing spot. California is a l-o-n-g way northeast of here.
Catch Celina's reaction to being here.Using binoculars, we did a thorough job of watching the water. As we hoped, we managed to spy some whales, but I don't have any photos as proof. They were too far away and too fleeting, but we definitely saw spouts. Those prompted squeals of delight.
After catching a bus back to Manly, we snagged some Mackies (McDonalds) to eat along the beachside esplanade. Then it was off to Oceanworld where we saw all types of Australian-native tropical fish, sharks, stingrays, and various reptiles and venomous spiders.
I thought it was novel and nice that Manly offers several locations for refilling water bottles.
It was a glorious day, though I'm beat from all the walking, and I had too much sun. Such a small price to pay to see this beautiful country.
I just love your photos. What a great day, and how clever (and energetic) were you to fit in so many activities! I'm glad that freak sea mist lifted enough to enable you to see the majesty of North Head's cliffs.
ReplyDeleteAll your beautiful photographs are making me super homesick. You've captured some of my favorite spots along the Sydney harbour line. Lots of fond memories.
ReplyDeleteYou did enjoy a wonderful day Linda! Our son Tomos married Emma from Yorkshire on North Head 6 years ago, it was a lovely wedding :-)
ReplyDeleteFor 10 years David and I spent two weeks holiday in Manly and we only live 35 mins away... there is something delightful about just being there and watching the sun rise up over the ocean each morning, watching the people on the beach from an apartment up high while sipping something cooling, then when we wanted to go downstairs and join them we would. Not in School Holidays though :-) Wonderful! We must do it again!
Love all the pics, especially the video, Celina is such a cutie.
ReplyDeleteYou will be flying home today?...travel safe. It's been lovely reading your Aussie posts.
-Andrea