On Boxing Day the weather couldn't have been any better. Clear blue skies and little or no wind.We (Deirdre, Allen and I) just had to go down to Manly beach for the day. Unfortunately on the way there we forgot that the Sydney to Hobart yachting race would be on and that the Ferries on the harbour wouldn't be running for a few hours after midday because of the start of the race.
Fortunately there was a sea cat service that was running just after lunch so we grabbed a quick bite to eat in Sydney centre and then caught that. It's a little more expensive than the ferry but much faster as well.
Manly had a solar powered Christmas tree in the middle of their town shopping centre, which was very cool. It does look very odd to see a Christmas tree in the middle of thirty-degree heat summer skies. Something about it just isn't right. Not that I'm complaining as it's much better than the cold, dark and damp usual English Christmas’s that I'm used to.
As you can see the beach on Manly was very crowded on the southern half. However if you walk a little way up to the northern beach it's much emptier.We hired a boogie board each and went out surfing on them. It was really good fun and there wasn't any lifeguard drama for me this time round.
The boogie boards allow you to walk a little way out into the sea and then 'catch' a wave back into the beach while lying with your chest on the board.
It's a good idea to wear a rash vest when on the board though, otherwise you'll end up with quite a red rash from the friction on the board.We all had a fantastic time and it was a great way to spend a Boxing Day afternoon.
After the beach we had a nice meal and couple of beers at the Bavarian beer cafe just beside the Manly ferry terminal.
On the way back on the ferry we had a very odd experience. The Manly ferry runs both forwards and backwards to and from Manly from the central business district (CBD), so it never has to turn around at any time.
However this time around because apparently the gang plank which we would normally depart on when getting off at the CBD, was too slippery so the ferry had to perform a 180 degree spin in the middle of the harbour. It felt very strange to have the ferry stop its engine in the middle of Sydney harbour and then spin around.However on the plus side it did enable me to take this great shot of the sun just setting over the Sydney CBD skyline. It's time like these when I'm coming back on the Manly ferry after a day at the beach that I wonder why I would ever want to come back to England. The view of the Harbour Bridge and Opera House at night isn't half bad.
4 comments:
Why would you ever come back to England??? I'll tell you why - Eastenders and Coronation Street!!!
Well, maybe not.
Londons fireworks were better than Sydneys. Tai-Pei's were second best of the day. Londons were unbelievable, I've never seen anything so spectacular, Jason must have been bleeding money from all sorts of welfare programs to fund that lot.
Well, I was at the fireworks in London and I think they should make it more lifelike by obscuring half the picture shot, throw some cold wet wind at the camera and have it pushed and shoved around like a maniac especially the moment the last firework has finished!
In summary, I think Sydney possibly had the edge on NYE 8o)
Having not seen the London (or Tai-Pei's) fireworks I can't say which was better. However having a lovely picnic and chilling out before the fireworks is much better than standing outside in the cold and wet weather of London.
I have to invest in a camera with image stabilisation soon as a lot of my shots appear to come out quite fuzzy.
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