We started our day with the normal routine: groggily wake up after the previous night's partying, shower, and eat breakfast downstairs. We had slept in, so after we had eaten it was time to head to start the day. First, Dani, Wilfrido and I purchased tickets to go to the top of the Sydney Tower that we had spotted yesterday. Our tickets allowed us to go up to the tower any time between 7:30 pm and 9:30 pm. Once we had the tickets, we prepared to head to the beach. The weather was considerably warmer than the previous day which made going to the beach again exciting as well, so we threw on our bathing suits and headed out.
To get to Bondi Beach we took a bus. But to get to Manly beach the quickest way is to take a 30 minute ferry. The ferry left from Circular Quay, the main ferry terminal in Sydney, located in the Sydney Harbour right by the opera house. So to start off, we took a free shuttle from Hyde Park, less than a 5 minute walk from our hostel, to the Sydney Harbour. Once there, the wharf was pretty much directly in front of us.
Once the ferry docked and all of the passengers were off the boat, we boarded, got a space at the very front of the ship for the best view, and waited to go.
It was a 10 minute wait or so until the ferry disembarked. This was yet another perfect opportunity to grab amazing pictures of the Sydney Harbour Bridge, the Sydney Opera House, and the Sydney Harbour itself. In the map I posted above you can actually see our ferry's route to Manly - it's the dotted blue line in the water that runs between Manly and the harbour. The ferry disembarked, turned right and curled around the opera house, and gave us a really cool tour of the route all the way out to the open ocean. Here are some pics taken during the ferry ride.
Once we got off the ferry it was a short five minute walk to the beach. I preferred Manly over Bondi, mostly because of the town. There was a huge open square with ice cream, cheap food, fast food, clothing stores, etc. It reminded me of the types of stores you would see on the boardwalk. Additionally, you could walk a block further and reach some of the streets that have nicer restaurants, bars and dives, surf equipment rentals, etc. But before we explored any of that we went to the beach.
The beach was nice as well - just as long as Bondi Beach was, with cliffs on either side making it obvious that the beach was nestled within an inlet. This beach was much more populated than Bondi Beach as well.
We did nearly the same thing here as before: some wanted to lay on the beach, some wanted to explore different places. This beach also had a pathway along the south beach against a cliff side. Actually, the trail runs the length of the hill you can see in the background of the picture above, going all the way out to the furthest point. Wilfrido, Kevin and I went to go explore that while others laid on the beach.
Similar to the previous day, we followed the trail all the way to the point furthest out into the ocean. There, we jumped over the railing along the edge of the trail and climbed down onto the rocks below.
We climbed down and went out as far as we would dare, even though the water was constantly crashing up onto the rocks.
After exploring a round and killing our feet on the rocks and barnacles we decided to start the walk back. Once we got back to the spot the others were still sitting at we wanted to go get some ice cream or frozen yogurt and explore the stores. The first place we headed was the large open square.
We did stop and get ice cream, sat on one of the benches and talked about what we'd do for the rest of the day. We only had 45 minutes or so left: we had to catch the ferry in time to get back and get to the Sydney Tower we had previously purchased tickets for. So we walked around, looked at more of the town.
Soon enough we had to catch the ferry, and the sun was going down anyway. It was actually really good timing - we had a chance to ride the ferry during the daylight early, and now we'd be able to come back into the city just as the sun was setting, with all of the city lights on. Again, here are some cool pictures of the ferry ride.
Above: Night lighting of the Sydney Opera House from the front
Once we docked, the three of us that had tickets to go to the Sydney Tower (Dani, Wilfrido and I) headed to the tower. It is situated nicely right in the center of inner city, giving a good view of the entire area. Here is a picture of the tower taken the previous day:
It wasn't a long walk to the tower, the base of which is inside a mall. So we entered the mall and found our way to the entrance of the tower. We handed in our ticket, and started through the halls that lead to the elevator. Along the walls was various information about the Sydney Tower, such as the height.
Anyway, we reached the elevator and rode it all the way to the top. At the top was a small cafe in a large, circular, open room with glass windows around all sides of it. There were free binoculars set up to use as well as touch screens with information on various key points around the city. I actually read information on each of the key points on all of the touch screens, and probably gave me the best insight into where everything was and what the key places in the city to visit were. The city looked really, really nice at night. Not the best for picture taking, but I did like looking over at the harbours and the rest of the city at night.
By then it was getting pretty late. We grabbed some food in the bar downstairs while it was early enough, then went up to our room and get ready to go out. Some more drinks, then going out and having fun before heading to bed. Here are some pictures of the night, another day a success! Unfortunately I only seem to have pictures of before and after the bars, none while actually at them.
Looks like another Nice Place to go with the love one. Thank you for sharing this with us, I'll put it on my list for next future.
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