Manly Day Trip
By Richard Moore
A trip to Sydney is not complete without getting to Circular
Quay and taking a ferry out to the pretty suburb of Manly.
And it seems a popular thing to do with more than 6 million
people a year making the trip.
The 40-minute ferry ride will give you sensational views
of one of the great harbours of the world as well as the Sydney
Harbour Bridge, the Opera House, Fort Denison and the waterside
suburbs with their stunning homes.
But once you reach Manly itself that's when the real experiences
can begin.
As you pass Sydney Heads the ferry begins to rock with the
power of the entering Tasman Sea and then you quickly reach
the calm of Manly Cove, where the tightly packed multi-level
buildings exude the feeling of masses of amounts of money.
When you reach the wharf you can stop and get a coffee, do
a bit of shopping, or make for the attractive, village-like
town centre. If you walk down The Corso you very quickly come
to Manly's ocean beach side.
The beach is lovely and you can easily spend a day surfing,
swimming, enjoying the sun or just mucking around in the sand.
For lunch there are squillions of eateries around, but we
decided to test the claim that Manly has the best fish and
chips in the world.
Now, having tried the dish in Britain, New Zealand and other
parts of Australia it is fair to say it probably does. They
were excellent, but not cheap.
Mind you, both our mob and a couple of Japanese tourists
found the local seagulls a bit more than cheeky. They are
actually rather aggressive birds and if you pull out a bit
of fish they will swoop and try to grab it. Usually, it was
found, they succeeded and there were several badly pecked
fingers. So be warned.
We had to place a guard - me of course - while the others
ate and if you ever want to look a right charlie then volunteer
to keep the pesky flying rats away from cowering folk.
But Manly is also a major area of historical interest as
it was one of the first places in Australia to be honoured
with a name.
In 1788 Governor Arthur Phillip was on a mission to find
fresh water in the harbour and when some Aboriginals greeted
his boats he noted down in his journal that they were "manly"
in appearance and so the name caught on.
The village of Manly didn't really begin to take off until
the 1850s and - surprise, surprise - it was due to the start
of a ferry service between it and Sydney city.
If you are interested in military matters then a trip to
North Fort should be on your agenda. It is the site of the
Royal Australian Artillery National Museum and not only has
some glorious views of the harbour, but you can have a squizz
at a pretty amazing collection of guns that have protected
Australia's shoreline.
There are also tours of a network of military tunnels built
into North Head. North Fort is open on Wednesdays, weekends
and holidays.
Within the Sydney Harbour National Park south of Manly is
the old Quarantine Station used to house immigrants before
arriving in Sydney. The historic station is now a museum and
you can surmise as to its past by the fact it now has ghost
tours. It's closed on Tuesday and Thursdays. Needless to say
the ghost tours are night-time occurrences.
If nature is more your thing then there is a wealth of native
animals living within the Sydney Harbour National Park, which
covers most of the shoreline and its environs from Manly village
to North Head.
Art lovers should take time out to visit one of New South
Wales most respected venues - the Manly Art Gallery and Museum,
which is on the West Esplanade.
For people interested in less high-brow art - those fans
of the television reality series The Block - they may want
to wander down to 77 Whistler St to see the actual building.
It's only a five or 10 minute walk from the Manly wharf and
non-Sydneysiders may be astounded at how small it looks in
real life.
If the weather closes in a little, or you want to get up
close and personal with some pretty amazing creatures, then
Oceanworld Manly offers great entertainment.
Located on the West Esplanade, about two minutes walk from
the Manly wharf, Oceanworld has tunnel tours under aquariums,
touch pools for youngsters and you can even hop into a tank
with some pretty large sharks.
There are thousands of creatures on show and they are not
just sea critters, Oceanworld also has daily shows of Dangerous
Australians - snakes, crocodiles, scorpions and spiders.
If that isn't enough in the way of water activities you can
always visit the Manly Waterworks - just behind Oceanworld
- that has three giant water slides for everyone to have a
wow of a time on. The waterworks are open from October through
to Easter.
Now it has to be said that as a Manly-born chap I have a
soft spot for the old home, but take a trip out and you may
be surprised at how nice it is.
Links:
Manly
Art Gallery
Oceanworld
National
Parks
|
