Day 79, Mar 9, 2010
We have just one week left down under. I was up early and after breakfast did a 16 km power-walk. It was the same route I took to see the Queen Mary 2 down to Woolloomooloo and then continuing along the Botanical Gardens shoreline, through Circular Quay and along the foreshore to Darling Harbour and then home. I was home in 2 hours and so much enjoyed seeing Sydney wake up. I walked around the Opera House and for the first time there was not a soul on the stairs. Very few joggers were out compared to the steady procession that jogs through the gardens during the day. Since I was warmed up, I went to the hotel gym and did some weight training before heading upstairs.
With a forecast of sun and a top of 29, we shoved our cozies, towels and snorkeling gear in our backpacks and caught the ferry over to Manly. Being on the harbour on a sunny warm day is just fabulous. We took the walk to Shelly Beach and with the tide down a sliver of sand caught our eye about half way along by some rocks and looked like a nice snorkeling spot. There were lots of large fish and several grouper - one male larger than Bluey at Clovelly Bay. This spot was part of the Cabbage Bay Reserve where the carpet sharks were released, but I didn't see any. We then walked to Shelly Beach, had a few swims and caught a few Z's. On our half-hour ferry ride back to Circular Quay we were treated to a close-up look at the four U.S. Black Hawk helicopters that are in Sydney for two weeks. They flew low and very close to the ferry on our side and gave us all a wave as they went by. Very cool!
P.S. On March 1st I said it was the first day of Spring in Australia. Of course, I should have said it was the first day of Autumn. Jill has since made the correction.
We have just one week left down under. I was up early and after breakfast did a 16 km power-walk. It was the same route I took to see the Queen Mary 2 down to Woolloomooloo and then continuing along the Botanical Gardens shoreline, through Circular Quay and along the foreshore to Darling Harbour and then home. I was home in 2 hours and so much enjoyed seeing Sydney wake up. I walked around the Opera House and for the first time there was not a soul on the stairs. Very few joggers were out compared to the steady procession that jogs through the gardens during the day. Since I was warmed up, I went to the hotel gym and did some weight training before heading upstairs.
With a forecast of sun and a top of 29, we shoved our cozies, towels and snorkeling gear in our backpacks and caught the ferry over to Manly. Being on the harbour on a sunny warm day is just fabulous. We took the walk to Shelly Beach and with the tide down a sliver of sand caught our eye about half way along by some rocks and looked like a nice snorkeling spot. There were lots of large fish and several grouper - one male larger than Bluey at Clovelly Bay. This spot was part of the Cabbage Bay Reserve where the carpet sharks were released, but I didn't see any. We then walked to Shelly Beach, had a few swims and caught a few Z's. On our half-hour ferry ride back to Circular Quay we were treated to a close-up look at the four U.S. Black Hawk helicopters that are in Sydney for two weeks. They flew low and very close to the ferry on our side and gave us all a wave as they went by. Very cool!
P.S. On March 1st I said it was the first day of Spring in Australia. Of course, I should have said it was the first day of Autumn. Jill has since made the correction.
Close up of Shelly Beach
Tree root incorporated into stairs