...Cronulla. Jazz in the Domain. Mission to Manly. DP World...

I hit the beaches this weekend. After exploring the museums, landmarks and galleries last weekend I wanted to get back to nature and go see some of the different sights of Sydney.

Yesterday I headed down The Shire to soak up the sun, sea and sand in Cronulla. Unfortunately there was no Bilbo or Frodo to be seen but I had a lovely time sunbaking in this southern suburb of Sydney.

Saturday evening I headed over to the Domain to enjoy another free event thanks to the Sydney Festival. The outdoor Jazz concert was fantastic with a real Latin vibe. I managed to blag myself into a closed enclosure right at the front of the freebie section just before the Spanish Harlem Orchestra began.

It was a lot more salsa orientated but as the evening drew on there was a jazzier feel with solo artists being highlighted during the performances. There was an amazing piano piece and this brilliant trumpet player. It was a wonderful experience and has left me wanting to learn Spanish, go to South America and practice my Latin American dance moves. I'm so easily influenced when it comes to my travels.

As of today I'm half way through my visa in Oz so wanted to mark the six months by making a little mission northwards bound to explore Manly. Vince used to live here when he came backpacking to Australia so I wanted to check out his old stomping ground. The place is lovely and it really feels like you've got out of the city even though it's only a short ferry ride away.

The ride over was ace as you get to see some spectacular views of the Opera House and Fort Dennison that you wouldn't normally see from dry land. Once over here I got the pleasant surprise of viewing a Surf Carnival. These are national competitions between different surf clubs testing the skills and capacity of their life savers.

The Iron Man event is a real test of physical endurance with the competitors completing a course out to sea that consists of a swim back to shore, then an intense paddle on a surf board, leading onto a paddle in a one man type of canoe. These guys were super fit.

Afterwards I started my three and a half hour trek round the Manly coastline. The Manly Scenic Walk lets you take in all the sights of the area from the beautiful beaches, aboriginal sights and scrub land over various terrains. It was a fantastic walk to do and really got the blood pumping. It was great to stretch my legs as I've now changed jobs and although I've continued swimming I'm not as active chained to my desk in reception as I was for MEA with my walks to and from work..

As of Christmas Eve I started my new role at DP World (previously P&O) which is down in Port Botany so I have to catch the bus to work. I'm based on reception so am basically answering phones and meeting and greeting people. It's not as high paced or relevant to my career like MEA but the people at the company are really friendly and they have unrestricted internet access that they don't mind me using, hence the reason why my travel blog has suddenly got updated since September.

And means I get to keep in contact with everyone lots more via the net and facebook… every cloud always has a silver lining.

Photo: Cronulla Beach

[Next blog entry: Sydney Friday January 18th 2008]