@travellingwiththeateam

It’s sunny sailing Saturday.

We enjoyed another fun day on and off Jamie’s boat messing around Little Manly beach.

Amelia only has a few days with us before she returns to Uni in the Uk so it’s been great for her to spend it with us and our Manly friends.

Jamie got us all out again on the boat and treated us to a tour of the harbour …well the next bay!

After another enjoyable day on the beach, Amelia went off with Eva for pizza, so we decided to treat ourselves to a beer and fish & chips on the wharf. Wow what a great deal for 10 dollars.

Have boat will sail.

Jamie & Tracy kindly invited us all out this morning on their sailing boat. Off we set from Little Manly to the Q Station mooring. In fairness it’s not a huge distance, but just a great way to spend time and see Sydney from a different perspective.

After an enjoyable few hours sailing, swimming, diving and dinning, we returned to the shore and retired to the beach to doze.

This evening we treated ourselves to a G&T at a local restaurant on the beach front, before heading to the Freshwater food market festival.

We queued for an age only to see our two favourite dishes removed from the menu just before being served. Thankfully the chicken skewers with peanut sauce were still left, as were the basket of hot chips and a cool hazy pale ale!

We listened to the cover band play a great range of tunes, before retiring to Jamie & Tracy’s for tea and biscuits, bringing to an end another enjoyable day in Manly with friends.

Have wheels will travel.

Maria, a friend of a friend, has kindly lent us the use of her car for a few days so we decided, as the weather was good, to visit some of the Northern beaches.

Our first stop was the picturesque and infamous Palm Beach, where the Home & Away tv show is filmed. It’s been 4yrs since we were last here, but it remains an enchanting place and one with happy memories, as this is where Andy celebrated his 50th bday at the Barrenjoey House restaurant.

Eva joined us for the day, and was our guide for the best beach to sunbathe.

As Eva and Amelia took in the rays, Michelle and Andy walked up to the Barrenjoey Lighthouse on the Heads.

It’s a relatively short hike up, but pretty steep, however the views it offers as you climb looking back on the Palm Beaches is incredible.

Once at the top, we took a breather and looked around the old lighthouse and viewing point out across the Tasman Sea. During the months of May and June, it’s a location to view whales making their pilgrimage north from the Antarctic searching for warmer waters to breed.

After the walk, we got back into the car and drove to nearby Whale beach for lunch at the local surf club.

After some nourishment, we jumped back in the car and navigated our way through the steep back roads to pick up the main highway to Deewhy.

It’s a beach we’d heard of, but never visited despite it being only a few miles up from Manly. Despite the weather being a little cooler, we had a walk along the seafront and the various restaurants that face the beach, and made a note to come back on a sunnier day to enjoy the surf.

Unfortunately the weather is proving very unpredictable and this afternoon was no different, with the sun rapidly disappearing and heavy rain taking its place. As a result we drove to the local Westfield Mall at Warriewood.

There the girls indulged in the delicacy that it is frozen cola with ice cream!

After some retail therapy we headed back to the Airbnb for dinner and a movie and a relaxing evening.

Another sunny day, so another day at the beach, this time down at Freshwater.

We had a relaxing day, with lunch at Pilu in Freshwater, an Italian bistro.

Early evening Andy was sent out to get supplies from Coles and popped over to the Manly Oval to watch some of the football & rugby being played on the pitch.

It’s been a very chilled day, hence the lack of photos and chat!

We woke to glorious sunshine and from then on it was only going to be a beach day.

After a few hours on the beach we retired for drinks at the 4 Pines Brewing Company bar to taste the local pale ale and watch the world go by.

As it’s Amelia’s 19th birthday after she gets back to the Uk and returns to University we decided to celebrate early and with the friends in Manly. Amelia chose a Mexican restaurant called El Camino located in Manly Wharf.

Amelia picked a ‘blue’ theme for the evening, so we were dressed in this colour.

Always a lover of dressing up, Amelia was pleased that we were required to where sombreros and the margaritas were suitably large and over the top!

We started 2024 as we tend to do other years with a NYD walk.

After a leisurely stroll along Manly beach, we stopped at the Beach-house for some brunch and planned our route.

Amelia bowed out early, so decided to head up to the Q Station, the old quarantine centre for Manly which sits on the North Heads with great views out to ocean and back over Manly and the wider Sydney skyline.

Walking through this bush, we quickly realised how tropical and unfamiliar the trees and wildlife are.

We managed a decent hike of c. 10k over a couple of hours and got to see a different side to Manly to the one we have seen so far.

Our final stop was Little Manly where we grabbed a coffee and cake and watched the clouds over the bay looking forward to the promised return of the sunshine tomorrow!

Saying goodbye to 2023.

After a morning walk around the weekend markets on the Corso, and then some spectating at Manly Oval, we readied ourselves for the evenings celebrations.

We watched the first firework display in Manly harbour, before driving down to Cremorne to view the main event down at Sydney Harbour bridge & the opera house.

We had a great evening, helped along by a few drinks & food on the beach alongside a big bunch of the English contingent that call Manly home.

Let the celebrations begin….

The fireworks kicked at 9pm in Manly and we had front row seats.

We had a wonderful few hours on the beach with the new friends we’ve made since arriving 2 weeks ago.

At 11pm we decided to drive to Cremorne with Caroline, Tracy, Neil & co to watch the main firework display. The views were well worth it and we avoided having to spend hours sitting around as we’ve had to do in the past on NYE in Sydney.

We had a great end to the evening watching the firework display and welcoming in 2024.

We woke to beautiful sunshine today and decided to make the most of it and headed to Little Manly beach to meet Caroline and Tracy.

The kids went out paddle boarding whilst the adults ‘relaxed’ on the beach and enjoyed the views out to Sydney harbour.

During the day we moved apartments and now closer to town and within a short distance of the wharf. It’s in a great location opposed Manly Oval cricket ground and Ivanhoe Botanical Gardens.

In the afternoon we went for our third bbq of the week, this time at Neil and Katie’s, a couple we met on Xmas day at our first bbq!

They live in a beautiful old workers cottage looking down onto Little Manly beach.

Neil had pulled out all the stops and we had an amazing array of food on offer, the best we’ve had in Sydney to date, which we all ate sitting out under a gazebo in their back yard.

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We had a really enjoyable evening in the company of the ‘gang’ from Xmas day, plus a few others that Neil & Katie know via the local church, St Matt’s.

Another enjoyable day in Manly, meeting old friends and making some new.

Another day, another BBQ, this time we were heading down to Jamie & Tracy’s place, who kindly hosted on Xmas day.

Jamie was our chef for the day and treated us to his culinary skills on the bbq.

As on Xmas Day the food was plentiful, so after starters and mains, we had a break and Jamie took a number of us out on the beach for a surfing lesson.

As novices this meant that the surfing was limited, but the laughs were plentiful. Sadly having a big board doesn’t make it any easier as Andy found out. Congrats to Danny, Maria’s boyfriend, who managed to make it up on the board and almost stood up.

Returning back to the food, Andy was surprised with yet another bday cake, thanks to Caroline’s ongoing kindness and generosity.

It was made even special to have Amelia present the cake, as she had designed the fruit topping into the initial A!

On the way home we got some great shot of the sun setting over Manly. What a beautiful view.

That evening Andy met up with Gary, Jamie and Mark for beers down at the Wharf bar in Manly. As it was a sunny evening the place was packed and meant for an enjoyable end of the day.

Its Andy’s birthday today and the sun came out to celebrate!

After his customary mornings run, we went to Rollers Bakehouse for an indulgent breakfast. Pastries, croissants and damn fine coffee.

As an added treat Andy treated himself to a healthy granola with all the trimmings.

With the sun out, we headed to Shelly beach for a few hours of R&R. Amelia followed on her newly acquired e-bike.

The next birthday treat was a late lunch at Hugo’s, a fantastic restaurant on the wharf which we’ve visited on previous trips to Manly and absolutely loved. Today’s party was a white themed affair so we arrived looking like we were going to a wedding!

Charlie arrived late to the party and didn’t get the memo about the dress wear and brought a football instead!

After another beautiful day celebrating Andy’s bday, we walked back to our Airbnb along the Manly to Spit path and took in the stunning sunset. Another lovely day in Manly with friends.