Manly Revisited!

It is fitting I put this post towards the end of this blog. By the way someone asked me the other day whilst I was sitting on the wharf writing this blog...what is a blog? I suppose I have been using the term for several years now and just thought the term was in everyday usage.  Just in case, simply a web log, an online diary. Just like any diary it can get a bit out of sinc, a bit messy.

On reflection I can't believe 6 weeks are almost up....where does time go when you are enjoying yourself?

I am glad  I've managed to keep it going even if occasionally out of sinc. I would never have remembered all the place names and the people and it has been the photos.........don't worry Jim you won't have to look at all x thousand of them.......... which have kept the order and the sequence for me.

What would I do without my trusty Mac?

It has been just great staying in Blair's flat with this view every morning from bed. 

I almost felt young  again....... well maybe not so young.... as I listened to all the chat about work and "things" as Ali, Christina and Eve brought a very familiar  female context into Blair's Manly world!  I'd forgotten what a 'female' world is like having lived in a family of three males for the last 30+ years.

It did remind me a little of my time pre-marriage as a 17 year old student I also shared a flat with 3 other females............dear me,  tempest fuget! It doesn't really feel like 10 lifetimes ago...........until maybe I try to get up out of the very soft sofa! (keep remembering however that Blair gave me his bed and has been sleeping on said sofa)! 

Regardless of the weather, even in the pouring rain - it is warm of course, circa 22C - the girls  go for their daily run and swim or, if not in the morning, when they come home from work! No need to take anything with them, they are wet anyway so a dip in the sea on route back home? 

Path signs are very clear about any lurking dangers on the ground although no mention of the "dangers' of what lurks just above your head. I did note some webs gone and a few new ones in their place!

The girls  leave the house, cross the road and are immediately straight onto the footpath. I should add that Blair also runs along the coastal path but you will not be surprised that his preference is to do it in the evening, after he comes home from work, rather than in the morning! 

The route is so beautiful. Round the little  bay along towards the Wharf and the Ferry, up along the Corso, the shopping street in Manly and out onto the Ocean side (the view from the apartment I had for a couple of weeks) and either in one direction southwards towards Shelly Bay (my still favourite beach) or in the northerly  direction along past the volleyball nets and out to Queenscliff.

A round trip of 5 miles...........could almost encourage me to take up running again...well maybe not!

If they are not running they are surfing, biking, snorkling, playing volleyball and football, dancing, partying,  they are working to allow themselves this kind of lifestyle. A healthy and good lifestyle, why wouldn't you want to live here?

I should add that on my daily walks I see lots of young mums running and pushing their babies, toddlers in three wheeled buggies, people of all ages running and jogging at various rates, and lots of women of all ages either individually or in pairs or with their dogs purposefully striding out. There are many, many retired folks here. Keeping fit and healthy is part of the lifestyle for all. 

Not too dissimilar to those I see down by the river on the Millenium Pathway but everybody seems to walk or jog here. Everyone makes full use of the beach even in the rain....it is warm, a bit different to georgeous St Andrew's Beach, a bit too cold for this!

One important aspect is that folks feel very safe. I did ask about walking along an unlit path in the dark but that is not a problem and I certainly felt very safe at all times when on my own.

A regular weekly school swimming lesson takes on a whole new meaning when you are at the Pacific Ocean (Shelly Beach round the other path on the left side of the pic.). 

Why is it that the classes always ended up depositing themselves close by me?  

Perhaps I shouldn't say but I will anyway 'cause I can! The teacher was a real moaner, he kept shouting at the children and they were just great. He's the kind of person I didn't want in my schools, didn't seem to like kids!  It seemed such a chore for him to have to bring the children here!!!!!