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Published: January 22nd 2011
17 January 2011 Our last morning in Woolongong had arrived, we surfaced early enough to say our goodbyes to our very generous hosts, but not so early as to take Lydia up on her very kind offer of dropping us to the train station at the same time as she was dropping her dad (7:15 is a bit too much for us). We put our stuff together in our packs and took our stroll to the bus stop for the first part of the journey, in glorious sunshine. Moving days are however the one type of day when you actually hope for a bit of cloud so you don't start sweating the minute you don your pack. This was not to be and the morning showers were deemed irrelevant about 5 minutes after stepping out of the front door.
We got to the bus stop and our previous evenings perusal of the online bus timetable was either majorly wrong or the timetable is "loose" as we had a fair wait - good job we weren't in a rush!
A supposedly 20 minute bus journey turned into a 40 minute ride through what appeared to be every
suburb of Port Kembla and Woolongong, We arrived at the main train station, purchased our tickets to the 'big city' and sat on a bench waiting.
The train unlike the bus was spot on time, and we boarded the double decker train carriage grabbing a seat on the Eastern side as Jeff had instructed, so that we could see the sights as we left the area.
The slightly greyed window, which had been scratched a fair bit, coupled with the amazing way we had seen the coastline the day before meant it wasn't as spectacular as it could have been, but it is certainly not a bad journey to do.
Jeff had also warned us that it was not the speediest train in the world, and as we crawled through the Southern suburbs of Sydney going past Botany Bay, the airport, and a variety of far less notable sights, I for one was eager to return to Manly a place I had spent nearly 3 months a decade previously.
Disembarking from the train at Sydney Central station we purchased our week long ferry/train/bus ticket that allows you unlimited distance, for a reasonable price of A$41 (at
least something is reasonable here!) and then headed in the direction of the inner city train loop to get us to circular quay Sydney's main transport hub, and the embarkation point for all of the harbour's ferries.
Having not eaten much yet today and it now being lunchtime, we stopped at one of the concessions in the area at teh quayside, and I decided that it was about time to sample my first 'Aussie Pie' of the trip, Lou wasn't so brave and opted for a piece of banana bread.
We boarded the Manly ferry and sat outside for the half hour journey. I was impressed by the fact that the ferries now offer free Wifi, Lou on the other hand was still taking in the sights: the Opera House, the Harbour Bridge, and the harbour itself.
She hadn't realised how proximate Sydney's two most iconic landmarks are to each other, and after 5 minutes of the ferry ride, was a little disappointed that both had been ticked off the list of things to do.
We disembarked in Manly, and after a brief walk were safely in Gos and Anna's flat. The place is on the
seventh floor of a block and has a great view of the beach which was looking pretty inviting.
A quick wander about the area to refamiliarise myself and show Lou around, including a couple of 'infamous sites' from my last visit ensued, before we returned to await Gos' return from work.
For those of you that don't know Gos (real name Adam) we had worked together on Treyarnon as lifeguards for a couple of years, and he also lived in "The bungalow" in cornwall, albeit not at the same time as me.
Anyway, after a quick catch up, the first order of business was to get wet, so he and I went for a quick early evening surf. We passed Anna coming home from work on our way to the beach, and then got in the water.
Another memory from my previous stay here came back pretty quickly at that point, which was how much water moves about on this beach, and the fact that the paddle isn't the most relaxing. Anyway after about 45 minutes we got out refreshed and in my case a little cold ( despite the water being warmer than at home)
We got back to the flat to Anna and Lou chatting and drinking tea, and potato wedges in the oven. All that was needed was the sausages chucking on the BBQ on the balcony and dinner was served.
A few beers/wines were had and we all had a good chin wag to catch up. A great way to end a decent day.
18 January 2011 During the course of the previous evening Lou had arranged to meet her friend Katherine, one of the 'rowing girls' from law school (she rowed at number 2 in the boat I am informed) We haven't seen Katherine for a while now as she has been over here in Australia for a couple of years and due to Lou's treatment we were unfortunately unable to go to her wedding in November 2009.
She and her husband Andrew, who was at work today, have also recently had a baby, Alexander in early December. The arrangements had been made to meet at the wharf where the ferry docks and it couldn't have been simpler. We arrived just prior to Katherine, Alexander, Katherine's mum, and her mum's friend by about 5
Cute little harbourside cottage,
possibly a maritime office of some sort in years gone by.minutes and sat down to a drink. They arrived and after a very brief hello, her mum, and friend headed into Manly to explore the shops whilst we sat and caught up, and met the baby.
He is a very cute boy, and is also pretty calm, something I really appreciate in a child. Apparently I am one of the few men who was interested in having a hold/cuddle, although I do find that I so often get passed children about 30 seconds after Lou has had enough/they have had enough of her. In this case I did manage to quieten the young lad down again for a little bit before returning him to his mum.
Two hours flew by and the next thing we knew it was time for us to part ways but with a rough plan having been hatched for a further meeting later in the week, which Andrew could also attend.
We got onto the ferry, for our cruise into town, and deliberately sat on the other side to see the view we had missed the previous day.
On arrival in town we had a mission to seek out a camera shop
to see if we could get Lou's camera fixed - the screen has been somewhat damaged since she dropped it in Singapore the first time we were there. She has been moaning that the damage has really reduced her enjoyment of taking pictures but we haven't been in one place long enough (that is well enough developed) to attempt a repair.
Yesterday she had checked the internet for a camera shop and Katherine had explained the location of another, neither far from Circular Quay, so after we disembarked we headed in that direction. The first shop we got to explained that the camera would cost a fair bit to repair, and it would take 6 weeks to do as it would be sent back to the manufacturer. So much for that idea, plan b, find a new camera (something we had been considering anyway) so we asked if they had the camera that we had been thinking about but it was out of stock. This wasn't turning into a successful trip to the shops.
We gave up on the camera for the day, and continued to do the tourist stuff we had set out to do. Next stop
Darling Harbour. We had by now walked through the heart of the CBD and as such weren't far from our destination. We looked at the flashy restaurants and bars and walked past all of them, until we got to the ferry stop and boarded the ferry back to Circular Quay, via a number of other stops.
The ferry really is a lovely way to get around and as it is all included in our ticket we were going to make the most of it. We chugged along passing Luna Park with its huge and slightly disturbing face, under the Harbour Bridge, and back to our stop before changing to the Manly ferry and heading back to the flat.
Lou cooked a very nice cottage pie, for us all, and then we finished off the day with a walk from Manly to Shelley beach, the only west facing beach on the East coast as Anna informed us. We took in the ocean from the cliffs and came back down to see the lights of Manly. A great way to finish another lovely day down under.
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