Manly Monday

*Melissa*

Monday we woke up to the kind of weather we had expected in Sydney all along – soaking wet. This was much to our disappointment, as our plans were to head out to Manly for the day.  We pulled ourselves up by the bootstraps, cinched down our hoods, and went anyways.

I must mention that before braving the ‘rough’ harbor seas, I had to get a coffee.  I discovered possibly the best coffee I have ever had in my life at a little alcove called “The Workshop” nestled between all the big stores, and definitely recommend them to any coffee drinker who happens to find them self in Darling Harbor.

The Ferry ride to Manly after that was just lovely – we sat on the deck in the back of the boat, avoiding the cold winds and bitter wet spray coming from all directions.  It was gorgeous scenery the whole way, and well worth my $11 just for the ride alone. 

Our hearts sank like anchors when we docked in Manly, however. We had been looking forward to “OceanWorld”, where we were originally going to swim with the sharks in the tank (until we saw that it was a bit more costly than we had originally planned on).  Over in the corner of the harbor was a sun bleached little hovel with a big ocean world sign on it.  I would expect this place to maybe sell some fish, but it definitely didn’t look like it would hold anything bigger than an octopus – any definitely not multiple! We were so stunned at the sight, which we didn’t even get around to going in at all.

            We wandered around town, trying to duck under shop awning and storefronts to avoid the crying clouds, and Chad quite happily explored each and every surf shop we stumbled upon (several, if you’re wondering.  Manly is Surf shop central!!)  We put off lunch so we could get “shopping” out of our blood, and avoid having to return to the same places later in the rain.

            Much to our disappointment, after debating for an hour over where to finally eat, everything had closed down. One of the most frustrating things about Australian restaurants (at least in smaller suburbs or cities) is that they close right after lunch until 5 or 6 pm.  So, if you wait till after 1 or 2 to eat, you are flat out of luck!

            Grumpy, hungry, wet, and frustrated, we were at a loss at what to do. In lieu on hanging around sitting in the rain, we got back on the ferry to head back to Circular Quay.