Sunday - Australian Mothers' Day

Still no change in the weather. We strode north through the city centre to catch the 9 a.m ferry to Manly. This sails down Sydney Harbour, almost to the ocean before veering left into Manly Cove on the inland side of an isthmus. A short walk took us down to the surf beach where the Pacific rollers crash in. We walked the promenade to the north end of the beach and then walked back along the waterline as we admired the prowess of (some of) the surfers. Some of the others were rubbish. All of this walking soon builds up an appetite and we adjourned to a cafe just off the beach for fish, calamari and chips. Yummy.


By now the beach was getting very busy so we headed back to the ferry and got ourselves pole position, right at the front of the boat as we headed back to the city. The ferries going the other way were jam full of people taking their mothers out for the day. By now it was quite hot and the prospect of a route march across the city centre did not appeal but we were saved by a central loop free bus service which dropped us two blocks from the hotel. A quick check on the ninternet when we got back to the hotel revealed the marvellous news that Leeds United had won promotion.

Tonight we decided to look at a nearby area that has a number of Spanish restaurants and chose one that operates within an old fashioned pub called the Sir John Young. Having placed our order and poured a glass each from a bottle of Tempranillo we sat back to relax. When the food began to arrive we realised with horror that the portions were about three times the size of those we get in Edinburgh. Our luck held as the waitress who took our order had missed off two items and we were able to finish most of what was delivered. Her inefficiency earned her a decent tip for saving our faces.