We may be turning into Manly locals, as this morning we were up and out walking along the beach at the early hour of 6am. The cafes are open, people are in the water and you could easily believe it was closer to midday.

After our walk, Michelle relaxed with a coffee in Hemingways whilst Andy went off to get his 10k run in the bag. All of this was concluded and it wasn’t even 9am!

Post breakfast we hatched a plan to head into Sydney, before getting a train down to Mascot, near the airport to pick up a hire car for a week. The plan is to then visit a few other locations in and around the city as well as doing pickups and drop offs at the airport, with the arrival of Meg on the 28th and Amelia’s departure back to the UK on the 3rd Jan.

We decided to take the ferry from Manly to Circular Quay, which proved an excellent idea as we got to see more of the sights on another glorious sunny afternoon.

Whenever we travel on the Manly ferry we end up spotting a different beach or a different view that catches our eye and makes you realise what a stunning place Sydney truly is.

As the ferry ebbs towards the famous city skyline you really can’t help but smile and appreciate the beauty and splendour of the bridge, opera house and the skyscrapers that run through the city.

Located in Angel Place, just to the south of Martin Place, Forgotten Songs showcases 180 bird cages suspended above the street below. There are also bird species named in the pavement the visitor walks on. This piece has been on permanent display since way back in 2011.

After a visit to Surry Hills for lunch, we picked up the train and headed down to Mascot to pick up our hire car from Sixt.

We are now the proud ‘owners’ of a funky white Mazda which got us back to Manly in super fast time as we rode the endless tunnels that connect the Eastern Suburbs with the North Shore and on to Manly.

Tonight it was a boys night and drinks down at Felons on the Manly Wharf.

It’s another customary meet up and an opportunity to catch up with Gary, Mark and Jamie and partaking in a few beers whilst putting the world to rights. Always funny to hear how much their lives mirror our own, with all the usual nonsense and challenges, intermingled with days spent on the beach or down at a bar/restaurant in the glorious summer sun. The evening went by really quick and before we knew it, 11.30pm had struck and it was time to amble home for a good nights sleep in readiness for Andy’s birthday tomorrow.