For this whole month of February I’m touching on the subject of Sydney. Last week I highlighted the much cheaper, with no loss on experience, Tower Climb of Sydney Harbour Bridge… This week I’m hitting the coastal fringes of Sydney and taking you to Manly…
The reason I love Manly, is purely because it feels like a wee haven from the buzz of the concrete world of Sydney.In some ways, it almost feels similar to Byron Bay… just that little bit smaller!
Getting There
In order to get to Manly, you can either take a bus… which entails an hour+ long journey that loops around the harbour, or… for the best form of transport to Manly, it has to be – the ferry.It’s relaxing, scenic and the perfect way to pull yourself away from the craziness of the city.You can grab the ferry from Circular Quay which is so easy to find. I’d recommend taking some time to check out Circular Quay if you can, it’s full of souviner shops, didgeridoo playing, magic acts (including a woman who managed to fit herself inside a 16×16 glass box!), aswell as the Contemporary Museum Of Modern Art.
Although I must say… being someone who does love art… Asides from the Aboriginal art in the musuem… the rest of the “peices” were odd. Just… odd. The visit to the CMoMA turned out more hilarious than we thought, due to the elaborate descriptions to a painting of a red line!
I’d advise that if you are to visit Manly, you certainly need the entire day to spend there. Otherwise it turns simply into a ferry trip, instead of visiting the place!
The ferry journey takes around 45minutes, if my memory serves correct. And when I visited the area, the final ferry departing back to the city was at 4.45pm (which only gave us an hour or so to spend there!). So if you want to see plenty of Manly, set off in the morning!
In Manly you’ll find the chilled out atmosphere that you want in a beach town. As soon as you step off the ferry and walk through the port, you find yourself on the high street. And even from there… directly infront of you is the beach.Perfect!
Wandering Around
The place is full of your typical surf shops… which is music to my ears! And screams the buzz of surf town with style.There’s plenty of cute bistro’s and cafes to choose from. Infact, we tested out the local fish and chips which were beautiful! If only I could remember the name of the restaurant!
The beach itself is lush too. It extends across the coast for miles… so no lack of space to find a spot and soak up the sun! (don’t forget the suncream… it hurts!)
Unfortuantely I didn’t have as much time as I would of liked to explore more of Manly, but I’m sure there is plenty of hidden treasures down the streets of the town and plenty more to discover.I’d totally recomend spending a day in Manly. Getting their is half the fun… plus it’s an excuse to get out of the city and seeing it from the water. Definately take the camera purely for the ferry ride!
