Manly Beach

Originally uploaded by lools.

Manly is one of Sydney's premier beach resorts situated about seven miles north-east of Sydney on the lower Northern Beaches. The beach was named after Captain Arthur Phillip's encounter with the confident and "manly" Aboriginal people of the Kay-ye-my clan. It took us about 30 minutes by ferry from Circular Quay to reach Manly.

Manly will always be special for me because it was the first time in my life that I experienced such clear blue water. I was totally mesmerized looking far out to the horizon and seeing the progression of colours - light beige, turquiose, aquamrine, blue, navy blue, sky blue...just spectacular. I could spend hours on this beach soaking up the sun and staring out into the far edge of the world...

The beach was not too crowded but lots of young and old Australians alike were frolicking in the water. Being this close to the ocean and not wanting to pass up the opportunity, I took off my sneakers and socks and allowed the waves to splash my feet. Brrrrrrrr...the water was freezing! I did not expect that at all given how many people were out in the ocean. It was a nice change however after having the sun directly in my face on the ferry ride over to Manly.

Manly is a surf town much like Huntington Beach etc in Southern California. There are plenty of cool shops from where you can buy surfer inspired fashion. We had a fun time shopping for a gift for a colleague's 11 year old daughter trying to balance the fine line between "fashionable" and "raunchy"!