12 hours in Manly

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http://www.heygo.com 23rd February- 12 hours in Manly!



My first visit to Manly was back in 2013, when we took a cruise holiday that commenced in Sydney.

We were there several days so took the opportunity to take the ferry to Manly .

This morning I joined virtual tour guide Elizabeth, who when asked about her accent described herself as ‘Born in America, Australian by choice’.



Manly was named by Captain Arthur Phillips by for the Indigenous people living there, stating that "their confidence and manly behaviour made me give the name of Manly Cove to this place" These men were of the Kay-ye-my clan.



We walked from the harbour to the beach, stopping at the cenotaph.

The memorial is a polished granite column sitting on a large rectangular base with six buttresses.

The top the column is a globe of the world with Australia clearly visible and the word "Anzac" engraved on a band circling the globe.

The base contains nine plaques on which the names of veterans, who have died in the various wars, are engraved and gilded. In addition, there is a series of five bronze relief sculptures depicting various First World War and related scenes, an inscription and dolphins, representing Manly's seaside location. A flagpole stands to the east of the memorial.

At the base of the monument is the inscription: “To the memory of those gallant men of Manly who in the present war so gloriously gave their lives for the sake of humanity and justice”.

The “present war”’ was World War I and the man behind the memorial was Mark Mitchell, a local solicitor whose son Alan was the first Manly volunteer to fall in battle.

Alan Mitchell, a member of the 1st Battalion AIF, was badly wounded at Gallipoli on April 25, 1915, and died of his wounds in Egypt on May 5.



During the 19th and early 20th centuries Manly was one of Australia's most popular seaside holiday resorts, said to be the place where the restriction on daylight sea bathing was first challenged in Australia.



In October 1902 a gentleman wearing a neck to knee costume, swam at midday after announcing his intention to do so in the newspaper.After being ignored by authorities and being publicly critical of them, he swam again and was escorted from the water by the police, although no charges were laid. In November 1903 Manly Council allowed all-day bathing provided a neck to knee swimming costume was worn !

During the first official bathing season in 1903, 17 people drowned on Manly Beach. A year later a surf club was formed on the beach to safeguard the public.



Today there were plenty of surfers even at 7pm.

We walked towards Shelley beach stopping at Fairy Bower, an affluent area it’s properties selling for millions of dollars.

Sea pools are quite common in Manly and the one at Fairy Bower had a sculpture of Sea Nymphs.



I return to Manly Tuesday evening in U.K. but sunrise on Wednesday in Manly.

It was 6am still dark pouring with rain but it was still enjoyable to watch the sun come up.

Probably not the best sun rise I’ve seen but from my armchair I was happy to be listening to the waves as they fell to the shore watching the day start.

The surfers on the beach looked quite happy too.

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