Having bused into circular quay I boarded the Manly ferry to Manly! The 35 min journey was very sunny and I was sitting on a not so comfy wooden bench outside. It made me realise how big Sydney harbour is.

On arrival I walked down the Corso to Manly Beach with its soft golden sands. Not quite ready to settle in for some last minute tan topping up I went on a walk. Quite a long walk! I walked around to Shelley Beach, Cabbage Tree Bay Reserve, then up to the Gatehouse visitor centre and out to North Head. There were some fab views across to South Head and back to the city. I spent some time watching a small fishing boat attempt to chase shoal of big silver fish, which was quite entertaining from the high vantage point I had. I ate my very yummy sarnie that I'd bought from a small kiosk at the south end of the beach. I walked past lots of the military buildings and the parade ground on the way back to town.

On my return walk I chose to walk to Collins Flat Bay, as I thought bring small and away from the main beach it would offer some peace. The beach was idyllic but there was a very noisy party boat moored just off shore, not quite so idyllic! I'm too old for all of that and I was there to escape people! I failed miserably to find the footpath on the opposite side of the bay so ended up having to walk back up the steep hill I had just walked down. A less than successful 2km detour. I sauntered past some very nice real estate on my way to the beach, where I flopped onto my towel and watched the surfers for a few hours. In my humble opinion, Manly Beach, excepting the surf, is your quintessential sea side holiday location. Nin I'm sorry, I failed to find your pie shop and pub, but I managed to resist the gelato temptation (it didn't seem hot enough to me!) but had a great day in Manly.