Manly Beach: Day Two

Day two we decided to spend the day on the beach at Manly. It is a 20 minute walk from C&S's who are on the other side of the cove. Before we all set off Cass and I went to the local beach (they are everywhere in Sydney) and dug some holes with his new spades. We were first up, at 5:30, so were itching to do something. We left the girls to get ready.

The walk takes you over the hill and down to the cove which is where the Ferry leaves from for Central Sydney. It takes about 30 minutes to get to the centre (next to the Opera House). Manly itself reminds me a lot of the Californian Pacific coast especially Venice Beach and Santa Monica. Everywhere you look there are people carrying surfboards, running or cycling. You feel very pale and lazy by comparison. The beach which I described in yesterday's post is a real surfer's beach. It is long with high breaking waves.

The kids were very excited although it took Hero some persuading to walk on the sand. It was as though she thought she might fall through the sand. I inflated the bodyboard I got for Christmas and Cass and I went to try it out. At first he was a bit concerned about the size of the waves so I decided to take him straight out and just jump on a wave. After initial panic he screamed "We're going really fast!". We went backwards and forwards catching waves. The current is very strong with rip tides that pull away at your feet.

Hero wanted to have some fun too so Katy took her out into the water to dip her toes in. She kept saying "Swim, swim" and wanting to dive into the waves. By about 3:30 we decided that we'd probably had enough sun, surf and sand (in Hero's case mouthfuls of it) and headed back to the flat via the supermarket.

Some readers may want to know more on the subject of Australian supermarkets. However, I'll keep it short. On a sample of one- Coles in Manly - they are great. Lots of fresh, organic and locally produced food. (Sorry, didn't check turkeys. Please see my turkey blog for more details). Finally, on the subject of beer. They don't sell it in supermarkets. They only sell it in Liquor stores which have the feel of an 'adult entertainment store' (apparently), dimly lit with just a single doorway and a flashing neon sign.