Shake and Bake

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Well, it's the morning after the night before and we woke up from last nights dissapointment with only 1 agenda - to have FUN. Give me an 'F' .... give me a 'U' .... give me an 'N' .... what does that spell .....
We decided to have a lazy day on the beach and chose Manly. After marching down to Circular Quay again we jumped the ticket queue to find a sign saying "All Manly beaches closed due to extreme conditions". EXTREME !!!!
We love a bit of extreme action so thought sod it and went anyway (hundreds of other people had the same thought as the ferry terminal was heaving).
The journey over took about 30 mins and showed us some great scenery along the way. The coastline in places was amazing.
It was a bit of a bumpy ride but we both are fine on the water and we didn't see anyone chundering over the side although one horrible thing was witnessed, a girls foot covered in blisters from sunburn and the other one bandaged up as someone had stood on it last night and ripped all the gooey blisted skin off it!!! When will the English learn!!!!!!!!!!
As we arrived the sea was calm and the little beach we could see had people on it so we couldn't understand what that sign was bangin' on about. The main beach was a couple of minutes walk away and as we got closer we understood .... EXTREME.
The waves were HUGE and even too extreme for surfers as the water was empty. In Australia, when they the beaches are closed it obviously means the water. There were loads of people milling around looking at the surf and the beach (long and sandy ... as beaches tend to be!!) had quite a few people on it but was by no means packed.
We picked our spot and started to bake. The peace and quiet was interupted by a very loud PA system 'advising' people not to go into the water and if you did, up to your ankles only.
This polite warning was ignored (of course) and although no-one was swimming there was an assortment of fat women, kids and dudes all enjoying the water.
The lifeguards, fetching in yellow and red (sponsered by DHL don't you know ..... which came first do you think - the yellow and red of DHL or the Oz lifeguards?) were pacing about keeping the peace. We were hoping for a rescue but to no avail. Miserable tourists!!
After several hours and a meal break (some lovely pasta) we headed back, stopping for a drink at a great outdoor bar near the ferry terminal.
At home we realised that Stevie Wonder had applied our sun screen as we both had big red patches in various places which smarted a bit. When will the English learn!!!!!!!!!!
That evening we ventured out to Darling Harbour which we found was very close to out apartment (which annoyed Claire somewhat) for a few drinks. Some nice bars and restaurants down there and we sat out in the cool New Years Day air and enjoyed a bevie.
The bar closed at 9:45 - well, they were all still hammered from the night before - so we moved on and found a place called 'Cargo' that had a groovy upstairs bar playing some very nice music (although the DJ was ropey).
Claire got chatting to an English girl who gave us a few tips for here and San Fran, I powered through my tiredness and slightly drunkedness with another beer served by an obnoxious American who I could have slapped silly!!
Stopped at a corner shop on the way home to print out some stuff we needed for the next day. Had a pie (they love their pies over here) and made a sandwhich when we got home .... beer munchies.

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Photos

pic 2
Baywatch !!!

pic 1
The beach at Manly