Yesterday we took too long to get out of the house. Lesson learned. Today we packed up our gear and headed to Sydney's famous Manly beach. The slender spit of land called Manly creates the Northern edge of the mouth of Sydney Harbour and boasts beautiful beaches on both the harbor and the ocean sides. The big surf on the ocean side draws surfers from all over the world.
We hopped on the bus to Circular Quay and then took a ferry out to the Manly stop. From there we walked the few short blocks to the ocean. Along the way the girls found a fountain to soak in. I'm glad they did because once we hit the beach we saw a sign warning about blue bottle jellyfish (known elsewhere as the Portugese man o' war). The girls went from game to play in the surf to stuck on the sand. I tried to show them that with the super clear water you could just keep an eye out on your general area but they heard the word sting, turned tail, and got out. They played happily in the sand for an hour or two although every time their hands got sandy they'd debate endlessly how they'd ever get them clean again. Eventually they worked up the nerve to at least rinse off.
We spent the day outdoors. I walked my 10,000 steps. The girls behaved quite well and we enjoyed some of the most stunning scenery around. Not bad for a Tuesday. I'm glad we got another dose of summer fun in before school starts next Wednesday.
Glad you guys are back on track!
ReplyDeleteI was stung by a man-of-war in Hawaii as a kid. It was brutal. My leg was very swollen, hot, and prickly for hours afterwards - and it was shockingly painful at the time of the sting. I'm sure you were desperately frustrated that they didn't go in the water, but you would have had a very. bad. time. if someone had been stung (and I'm not so sure that you could see one coming, even in clear water - they are darn near clear themselves).
ReplyDeleteThat's a helpful perspective. We saw a few tiny ones wash up on shore and they didn't look that intimidating but when I googled them upon arriving home I saw that they can actually be quite menacing.
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