Today we got up, made breakfast of a fried egg, bacon, and cheese sandwich before heading down to the Circular Quay to catch a ferry to Manly. We just missed the 10 am ferry and had to wait for the 10:30 one, which was ok, but Mom came into the radar of what was probably just a lonely old man looking for someone to talk to, but ended up creeping us out in the end. We didn't mind having a brief conversation with him on the Quay and saying our goodbyes; it was when he showed up again on the plank waiting for the Manly ferry that we started to worry. He kept asking us the same questions over and over again, and kept moving closer to mom on the bench as he was talking. I just kept my eyes on him to make sure he wasn't going to pick-pocket or attack. We managed to ditch him after we boarded the ferry, and mom put up the hood on her jacket so that he may no see us. But then we heard from behind us "So you got cold and put your jacket on, huh?" I almost started laughing. Thank goodness at that point he either lost interest or finally took the hint, because he decided to start harassing other people around us. I don't mind speaking to people, but he was giving off a major creep factor, and it was to the point where if he followed us off the ferry and acted like he wanted to spend the day with us in Manly, we were going to have to be a little rude and say "Look, this is a mother daughter day, it was nice to meet you, but we'd like to continue on our own at this point." (Haha, we had rehearsed this in case we had to pull it out.)
So we were a little distracted, but I still managed to get some pretty good pictures on the ferry ride over.
The ride took about 30 minutes and we landed in Manly around 11am. We got a free map from the information center before walking through The Corso, in the town center. We stopped at a shop and got some souvenirs, including a much needed hoodie for the windy day. We walked down to the beach front and walked along the beach until it was time for our reservation at Jellyfish cafe. Our waitress asked us if we wanted sparkling or still water, then brought us menus. Our living social deal got us 2 appetizers, 2 main courses, and a shared dessert. We picked mushrooms stuffed with ricotta and pine nut and a deep fried soft shell crab with a salad of shaved green onions, red pepper, and cilantro as or appetizers. Both were delicious!
For our mains, I got a fancy version of 'fish and chips;' it was grilled swordfish with a Mediterranean salsa and crispy fried potatoes. Mom got the catch of the day, which came with a salad of sprouts, rocket, cucumber, and ginger with a terriyaki dressing.
Around this time, we were getting full, but we were very impressed. We had decided we wanted to get a coffee with dessert, both because we were chilly, and also because it would be the only thing we would have to give money for since most of this was on the voucher. We asked to see the drink menu and after looking it over, I slowly realized our "still" water we had requested at the beginning when offered sparkling or still was not tap water; it was Italian mineral water, and $5 a bottle, and we had already drank three! Oh well, we had commented it was good water, and it was mostly a communication break down, but paying $15 for water did put a little damper on dessert.
Our dessert was a sample platter consisting of a rectangle of sticky toffee pudding, a pistachio brownie with vanilla ice cream and a pistachio sugar work on top, and creme brulee with a side of mixed berries. It was very pretty and very tasty!
After lunch, which took nearly 2 hours, we waddled down to the sand and watched the surfers and crazy people who stripped down to bathing suits and dared to go in the water on this cold, windy day. Mom and I did put a toe in:
After digesting a while, we walked back up the beach and through the town center, catching the 4:45 ferry back to Sydney. We spent the evening at the hostel and watched the sun set from the rooftop terrace while enjoying a Shiraz Cabernet I picked out the other day and crusty bread, butter, and sun dried tomato spread we picked up on the way home. Ahhhhhhh.
Tomorrow is Sydney Tower, High Tea, and a play at the Sydney Opera House.
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