Australia #1 - Manly, New South Wales

The second phase of our 90 day roadtrip escaping the Canadian winter was almost 2 months spent in Australia, trying, via trains, planes and automobiles, and the occasional ferry, to see as much of this wonderful country as we could - because we will probably only come this way once (finances and age being the main factors here!).

A ferry in Sydney Harbour - avoid traffic and sightsee without paying for a harbour tour!

Air Tahiti Nui - one of the world's great airlines in my opinion - flew us across the International Date Line to Auckland, New Zealand, where, after a short stop, we boarded an Air New Zealand flight to Sydney (another great airline - as an indicator, the safety video used surfing to get across its message!).

The beach at Manly - not very busy in the early morning.

We arrived at peak afternoon traffic so had an interesting taxi ride through the city to the suburb of Manly, which friends living in Sydney had recommended as a great place to stay. It did not disappoint!

Manly Wharf - about 5 minutes walk from our apartment.

Our studio apartment was on the edge of a very nice pedestrian precinct, the Corso - turn right to the ferry, turn left to the beach!

Some very fine buildings on the waterfront, but pricey! Our studio was relatively inexpensive, however we traded our view of Moorea in Tahiti (see my 3 posts on our week-long stopover there) for the back of a multi-level parking garage! But we weren't in this wonderful apartment enough to care. Travel note: book in Manly well in advance because it is very very popular!

This is the day the old guy tried surfing for the first time. brightonbonnie misunderstood my camera instructions, and the historical record of this great event was lost forever! (Edit: she just reminded me it was body-surfing, not the real stuff. She is still guilty in my books!)

Told you - turn left to the beach! The temperature here is less than Tahiti, mid-20s Celsius, but humid, so the breeze off the water is great.

Another view of the Corso. Our apartment was just down the street to the left. One of these trees was home to very very many green parrots, who we never saw, but make quite a racket at sundown and sunrise! Close to some wonderful cafes and shops where we could get anything we needed.

One last view of Manly Beach, children from a school across the road on a break!

Tune in for my next post, as we take the ferry to Circular Quay and the Sydney Opera House!

Thanks to @benfenson for watching over my Oz posts!

!steemitworldmap -33.801348 lat 151.285089 long Manly New South Wales Australia d3scr