Manly

And so the big day had finally arrived. Two episodes of The Oprah Winfrey Show were going to be filmed at the renamed Sydney Oprah House, entertaining viewers with many acts and celebrity interviews. Thankfully, we would be nowhere near the harbour front while the whole spectacle was happening. For today, we would be spending time with The Motyka’s, friends of my mother, in the northern suburb of Manly. A university professor and a medical doctor, the Motyka’s were born and raised in Australia and continue to practice their professions in Newcastle.

Manly lies 17 kilometres to the northeast of downtown Sydney and is currently home to around 14,000 people. The area has been a seaside resort for residents and tourists since the late 19th century. Queenscliff Beach, North Steyne Beach, and Manly Beach all make up a 1.5 kilometre stretch of sand on the ocean side of the neighbourhood, lined with restaurants, cafes, ice cream parlours, recreational stores, and palm trees.

In the early morning, we met the Motyka’s in front of our hotel and briefly spoke about our Australian adventures up until that point. We waited at a nearby bus stop and hopped on the free CBD Shuttle (Route 555) that chauffeurs passengers around the heart of the downtown core. When the bus was near Circular Quay, we jumped off and walked to the area to catch the ferry to Manly. Oprahmania had swept across Circular Quay with Oprah flags flying from light posts, tourists wearing Oprah shirts & hats, buskers playing music for anxious fans, and hired security guards directing ticket holders to the audience entrances.

It took several minutes to wade through the crowd and purchase our return ferry tickets at the ferry terminal. After waiting some more, we got on the ferry (as did many others) and sailed towards Manly. A line of orange water buoys had been placed around the Sydney Opera House to prevent private boats from getting close to the stage. But that didn’t stop an armada of sailing boats and private vessels from streaming towards the opera house to see the show. The armada crossed paths with the ferry we were on and was being watched/recorded by two helicopters in the sky.

We arrived at the Manly ferry 30 minutes after departure and disembarked onto unexplored territory. If I didn’t value my teeth, I would have bought a ton of lollies from the candy stall inside the ferry terminal. The best way to get to the beaches is to walk through the The Corso, a pedestrian street mall where one can find hotels, restaurants, artistic sculptures, clothing boutiques, and a church. On Google Earth, the walkway appears to have been made out of zebra skin. Since it was a sunny summer day, The Corso was crawling with families & loud talking teenagers.

The mood was the same when we emerged onto North Steyne Road, the main road that runs along the sandy beaches. Since we didn’t come to swim, we just walked around and gazed at the Miami-like scene. Our ‘beach-gazing’ was interrupted by the rumblings of our stomachs, so it was decided that they needed to be silenced by food & drinks. We ate outside under the sun at the Whitewater Restaurant on South Steyne Road, enjoying a variety of dishes and white wine. Many topics and future plans were discussed during the delicious meals.

After lunch, we headed back to the ferry terminal since none of us had a craving to shop. I should have stopped into the church to see if the priest was also a surfer. Overall, Manly is a nice getaway place to take a break with friends. Maybe next time, we’ll explore the North Head Army Barracks at the nearby Sydney Harbour National Park. The 30 minute ferry ride back to Circular Quay was windy & uneventful. I passed the time photographing the surrounding area. After disembarking from the ferry we caught the train back to our hotel. There, we parted with our friends and hoped to see them again the next time we visited Australia.

Since this was our last night in Australia we decided to have dinner somewhere. That somewhere turned out to be a Kebab Pizza Pide shop on a street I can’t remember. We ordered one large pizza, half BBQ meatlovers and half margarita, and 2 soda cans, all for $20AUD. The food quality was good. When we were finished, we walked back to our hotel, packed up, and went to sleep.