Surfing at Manly Beach

March 20, 2010


Today we were Manly bound for a ride on the ferry, a tour or the harbour and some sun, sand and surfing! If you are ever in Sydney one of the best values is the Ferry system, particularly on Sunday of ‘fun day’ as they call it where our family had a beautiful half hour tour of the harbour to Manly for the grand total of $10.00 return. Manly isn’t quite as famous as Bondi beach for surfers, but it is certainly great for families and the surf is just as high. The crescent shaped beach is easily several kilometers long and patrolled all along its length by the Surf/Swim patrol. They are on the beach, in the water in boats, on surf rescue boards and even in helicopters. They clear the water whenever there is danger which they did 3 times today as there were sharks in the area. There were also stingers in the water and Mary Rose got a small sting (probably a tiny Bluebottle jellyfish)

Connor on surfing: I think it is kind of sad that of all the AMAZING experiences we have had, four $15 boogie boards was one of the most fun things we have done. Playing in the waves and body surfing all day left us all sore and sunburned but it was completely worth it! The waves where huge but not so huge that it was frightening and dangerous. It was a perfect day - hot but not too hot and there wasn’t a cloud in the sky. At first it was fun but nowhere near as much fun as when you got the technique for surfing the waves. If you caught them correctly they would send you rocketing forwards and sometimes they would even bring you all the way back to shore. So to sum it all up - we had a blast and I think we are going back today! Mike and Fer – if you are reading this…. This is a destination for you. We know you would LOVE it as much as we did.

We ferried back early evening to see the sun set behind the Sydney Harbour Bridge – sore, sunburnt, exhausted and grinning!