Manly

Manly is only a ferry ride away from Circular Quay in Sydney but offers swimming quality water and a seaside holiday atmosphere as well as having very desirable commuter homes with ocean or harbour views. It is surrounded by bits of national park, and we anchored off a small beach in the park area which is in a 'penguin conservation area' - during the breeding season the fairy penguins come ashore as dusk to their nests. Not the breeding season at the moment, but penguins can be seen in and on the water though it is hard to distinguish them from sea gulls unless close to.

The entrance to Sydney Harbour is through two high 'heads'; North Head being a high vertical cliff, very recognisable from a long way out to sea. We walked to the cliffs which give a wonderful view over the city and its waters as well as the rocks and surf below. All very calm while we were there - an international surfing championship further up the coast must have been more of a paddling competition. The North Head area, being quite isolated, was a quarantine area for many years - ships often arrived with cases of smallpox and cholera on board, and even bubonic plague. There are three old cemeteries showing that hundreds of people never left the area.