Sailing with Amy Clair

Had a fabulous couple of weeks staying with Melissa and Chris and now moved over to Bronte in the Southern suburbs very close to where Laura and Tim live. It's has a very young "Californian" feel to it with lots of  tanned and toned young people running on the beach, working out and eating very healthy food ! The last time that we ate at Doyles Seafood Restaurant was in 1986 - scary !

We love the Circular Quay / Rocks area in Sydney. It's a great place to wander around , getting a taste of Sydney's past and enjoying the bustling cosmapolitan atmosphere. Also a good opportunity to visit the many art galleries.

It was a slightly overcast day when we decided to head out to the Blue Mountains for , surprisingly, our first visit. It's a spectacular place  and way outside my photographic skills to really do it justice but here are some of my best efforts ! We plan to go back again and to undertake some of the longer walks.

I was treated to a great day with activities arranged throughout the day; swimming on Manley beach at 8.30 followed by breakfast at the local friendly beach bar, back to the apartment to shower then off to the golf club for lunch, followed by a competitive game of bowls (very popular here with all ages) then drinks on the terrace and back home in time to change for going out to the evening meal in downtown Manly. A truly exceptional birthday that I will never forget.

It's Christmas time, Santa's are appearing in people's drives, decorations on trees and a very large Christmas tree in Sydney city - but it still feels like it should be July or August...

The Manly area is blessed with many things to do and see. Situated near the North Heads is a fort and quarantine station now a nature reserve. Australia has needed to preserve its native wildlife and keep out nasty illnesses and has done so by enforcing a strong quarantine policy. North Heads was ideally located to do that. It also guards the entrance to Sydney Harbour and was heavily fortified in WW2.  Great views from the heads directly over to downtown Sydney The signs say "beware of snakes, spiders and ticks" oooerrr...

The iconic double ended Manly Ferry brings back very fond memories of our first time in Sydney 32 years ago back in 1986- could it really be that long ago ? This shot was taken from the balcony of Melissa and Chris' wonderful apartment overlooking Manly Harbour. What a great life style.