Saturday, March 12th, 2011
Walking through Hyde Park on the way to Circular Quay.
After my wonderful night at the Opera last night I woke up today feeling like doing a whole lot of nothing. But eventually I made my way out of bed and made the walk back down to the Harbour. I finally walked all the way through Hyde Park and got a real picture of the fountain and then continued down to Circular Quay to catch the ferry.
Sunday in the park is always fun. This little guy was playing with the bubbles the big guys was making. I guess you are never too old to play with bubbles.
The fountain in Hyde Park and St. Mary's Cathedral in the background.
I'm not totally sure what this building is but I am almost sure there is a museum in it so I am almost positive I will visit it on another day.
The ferry ride to Manly took about 30 minutes and was pretty uneventful. Once I got to Manly I was not sure what to do. I did not plan very well and really the only thing I was thinking about doing was getting some ice cream.
The Sydney Harbour Bridge from the ferry to Manly.
One of the ferries making the return trip to Sydney.
I decided I would do a little bit of the Manly to Spit Bridge walk. It really is more of a hike in case you ever try it and is about 10 kilometers long. Like I said I was totally unprepared and ended up doing the entire hike…….in flip-flops. No it wasn’t my smartest decision but what could I do? It is really hard to get off the trail once you are on it and by the time I thought "hey I should just turn around and go back" I was over half way so just went to the end. It didn’t look that far on the map by the way.
I have tried very hard to figure out what this building is but I can't find it. I never made it over to see it but was able to take this picture from somewhere along my walk.
Once I got moving I decided that I wanted to walk out to a lighthouse lookout that I had passed on the ferry ride. It was only 500m off the main trail so wasn't much of a side trip. However I only made it about 250m when I saw a snake (my first wild snake since I got here) so I had to quickly turn around and walk (ok run) back to main trail. I’m still not very good when it comes to snakes (I did good this time however.........I didn’t cry) but I did walk the last 4 kilometers really fast and tried to stay in close contact with other hikers. I must say, the lizards on this pathway also seemed a little stalkish (as in they were stalking me). Yes, I clearly am not a fan of wilderness but I am trying hard to get used to it.
Some of the other wildlife I found along the way. I don't mind these cute little birds. It's the big birds I'm not a fan of.....or the lizards or snakes and not usually the giant spiders either. Sometimes I think I just need to get a giant bubble to live in.
A beautiful spot along my hiking trail. It was nice and cool down by the water. It was around here where I met a very nice man who was very excited to meet me because he thought I was a Canadian Indian from Vancouver and he had never met one before. I found it a little amusing.
One of the very nice lookouts along the way. You can see a bunch of sail boats in behind me. There was a regatta going on that day and this was a great vantage point. I don't know much about sailing but the nice lady who took this picture filled me in a few details.
Some aboriginal rock markings that have somehow survived the test of time. This one is a fish, obviously very important when it came to the survival of the aboriginal people.
By the time I got to the end of the trail it was around 1700 (5:00pm) and there was no way I was walking back (all the snakes come out at night) so I found a bus that took me back to the ferry terminal. When I got there…….I had ice cream. I had just hiked 10 kilometers and fended off a killer snake (well I can’t be sure about the killer part but it is Australia so it is a pretty good bet), so I deserved some ice cream.I eventually grabbed a ferry back to Sydney and made it back to my hotel, where I can assure I slept very well.
Julie
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