Manly Ferry.

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Yep, we finally got there. And it was worth the wait. Got lucky with the weather again and had a perfect day for it - no throwing up on the way over - so the city looked its stunning best from the water. You get a fantastic view of the Harbour Bridge and Opera House when you leave Circular Quay and it takes some believing that you're just on public transport and not some fancy cruise. It takes half an hour to motor the length of Port Jackson to Manly, so you get to see the whole harbour pretty much: Fort Denison, Rushcutters Bay, Sydney Heads and all for $12.80. It's got to be the best bargin the city has to offer.

It's a 10 minute walk (or shove) from Manly wharf to the beach, a pine tree lined icon of Australian surfing. It was 6pm by the time we got there, so things were pretty quiet on that front, but it was still a top spot to spend the evening. You need to keep an eye on the seagulls though. A girl was sitting on the bench next to us trying to scoff a wrap that wasn't much smaller than she was and lost a fair bit of it (but kept on eating...) to the gulls that massed behind her and swooped in when she wasn't looking. All very funny when it isn't happening to you. So we laughed.

Coming back towards the CBD into the setting sun was something else: all the great sights picked out against the orange glow, slowly revealing themselves (not like that) as you came alongside. Really wonderful. Talking of revealing yourself, we got mooned at by a girl on a very posh looking yacht aroundabout the Rushcutters Bay area. The youth of today...etc, etc...Got plenty of cheesy photos of me in front of the Opera House, all of which make me look even more stupid than I am, so I'm not putting them on here no matter how much you beg. We're planning to do the same trip again at night so we can see the city all lit up. Reckon that could be even more impressive myself.

If you're in Sydney, and you only do one thing, do yourself a favour and make it the Manly Ferry. It really is one of the world's great trips.

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