Manly Beach and Area
Experienced travellers will tell you that extended holdiays are all about Forks; as in - forking out the cash, and forking in the food! And we are doing a great job at both.
On the cash side of it; we find that the prices in the Sydney area are a little high compared to Canada; but not nearly on the same scale as London, England. Books, music and videos are way up there since there is little competition to keep the prices down. Movie tickets are around $17 – more for the 3D fad that the industry is pushing. Trade-size paperback books are $30 - 40, a DVD video
might run $25, and a CD is around $20. All with the Aussie Dollar roughly par with the Canadian. And yet, there are good deals to be found; the other day I ate a large Salmon Benedict breakfast (heaping piles of smoked Tasmanian Salmon on scrambled eggs on toast) at a grill right on the beach for just $7. A number of the attractions around town are fee, but some of the best-know charge quite a bit; (Sydney Bridge Climb - $200 – make the climb to the Bridge Pylon (Tower) instead and save $190 each); the Opera House - $30 – (buy the 5-attraction pass for $109 instead), The Sydney Tower - $25 – (take the elevator to the top of the ANP building instead); and the Harbour Jet Boat or C
ruise Ship – (use your all-inclusive Travel Pass to take the local ferries up and down the harbour and the cruise is free!)
Some of our favourite attractions are very modest in price, or free!
• The Botannical Gardens;
• The Anzac Memorial in Hyde Park;
• The Barracks ($10) – Sydney's first walled prision; (yes, I did look up the family name in their records, and found a Charles Rollins sentenced in 1825 for drunken behaviour);
• The Rocks Discovery Museum.
As for food, despite my earlier queasy encounter with the flame-lashed Big Wombora on the beach (see my previous post), which is only topped on my all-time Culinary Cruelty List by my 2008 sampling of the infamous Double Bacon Butty in Victoria Station in London, Aussie food is very good, and is anchored on fresh seafood and their excellent local steaks. They really have the Grill / Bistro scene down to perfection here; aided immeasurably by the scenic beaches and the marvellous climate. Two can dine on the water while watching the sun set, share a bottle of fine Aussie wine and eat excellent fresh seafood and a steak for $75; - or you can go to Hungry Jack's or the dubiously-named local joint called Burger Me for $20 – max. Either way, you will have a meal that you won't soon forget! (Especially after the latter – when you spend the rest of the night Worshipping at the Porcelain Alter!).
The beach pictured above is the famous Bondi Beach.
People we meet here are really enthusiastic o
nce they find out that we are from Vancouver and Victoria. They say that the Olympic coverage was great and that there were some really fantastic pictures of the area.
People are very friendly and laid-back out here on Manly Beach. We have already made the acquaintance of a fine fellow who lives just behind us, Ross McNichol. He has taken us to his local club, (The Skiff), right next to the Manley Ferry Dock; pointed out som
e of the area's best restaurants; and tomorrow is accompanying us to The Blue Mountains for a day-trip to one of Australia's premiere wing-growing areas. While quaffing the odd pint of really good Aussie beer or sipping some great wines, we have been passing on travel tips to Ross for his forthcoming trip to Calgary and Vancouver (like;
• if you order 'moose' in a Canadian restaurant, you might not get the whipped-cream desert cake you are expecting;
• in certain questionable eating establishments, if you ask the staff to 'Step On It', they likely will;
• ordering a 'Double – Double' in Tim Horton's doesn't ensure a really large Cup of Joe;
• a Dairy Queen is not a cross-dresser hanging out at the livestock barn;
• and, in BC establishments, Poached Salmon often refers to the method of acquisition, not cooking style.
In turn, Ross has endeavoured to educate us to the intricacies of everyday life in Australia. He is fond of pointing out that the Brits who originally settled here were common criminals banished as a form of punishment, and ended up in Paradise! What, indeed, is the Down Side of that!
Aussie Oddities
• (right) some of the plumbing shows its distinctly British origin;
• (below) a Band of locals, entertaining us with mu
sic down by the harbour;
• (left) Freshly Coffee?
• There are no government-run liquor stores in Australia; all are privately owned. And there is no bottle deposit; empties pile up all around the town.
On the cash side of it; we find that the prices in the Sydney area are a little high compared to Canada; but not nearly on the same scale as London, England. Books, music and videos are way up there since there is little competition to keep the prices down. Movie tickets are around $17 – more for the 3D fad that the industry is pushing. Trade-size paperback books are $30 - 40, a DVD video
might run $25, and a CD is around $20. All with the Aussie Dollar roughly par with the Canadian. And yet, there are good deals to be found; the other day I ate a large Salmon Benedict breakfast (heaping piles of smoked Tasmanian Salmon on scrambled eggs on toast) at a grill right on the beach for just $7. A number of the attractions around town are fee, but some of the best-know charge quite a bit; (Sydney Bridge Climb - $200 – make the climb to the Bridge Pylon (Tower) instead and save $190 each); the Opera House - $30 – (buy the 5-attraction pass for $109 instead), The Sydney Tower - $25 – (take the elevator to the top of the ANP building instead); and the Harbour Jet Boat or C
ruise Ship – (use your all-inclusive Travel Pass to take the local ferries up and down the harbour and the cruise is free!)Some of our favourite attractions are very modest in price, or free!
• The Botannical Gardens;
• The Anzac Memorial in Hyde Park;
• The Barracks ($10) – Sydney's first walled prision; (yes, I did look up the family name in their records, and found a Charles Rollins sentenced in 1825 for drunken behaviour);
• The Rocks Discovery Museum.
As for food, despite my earlier queasy encounter with the flame-lashed Big Wombora on the beach (see my previous post), which is only topped on my all-time Culinary Cruelty List by my 2008 sampling of the infamous Double Bacon Butty in Victoria Station in London, Aussie food is very good, and is anchored on fresh seafood and their excellent local steaks. They really have the Grill / Bistro scene down to perfection here; aided immeasurably by the scenic beaches and the marvellous climate. Two can dine on the water while watching the sun set, share a bottle of fine Aussie wine and eat excellent fresh seafood and a steak for $75; - or you can go to Hungry Jack's or the dubiously-named local joint called Burger Me for $20 – max. Either way, you will have a meal that you won't soon forget! (Especially after the latter – when you spend the rest of the night Worshipping at the Porcelain Alter!).
The beach pictured above is the famous Bondi Beach.
People we meet here are really enthusiastic o
nce they find out that we are from Vancouver and Victoria. They say that the Olympic coverage was great and that there were some really fantastic pictures of the area.People are very friendly and laid-back out here on Manly Beach. We have already made the acquaintance of a fine fellow who lives just behind us, Ross McNichol. He has taken us to his local club, (The Skiff), right next to the Manley Ferry Dock; pointed out som
e of the area's best restaurants; and tomorrow is accompanying us to The Blue Mountains for a day-trip to one of Australia's premiere wing-growing areas. While quaffing the odd pint of really good Aussie beer or sipping some great wines, we have been passing on travel tips to Ross for his forthcoming trip to Calgary and Vancouver (like;• if you order 'moose' in a Canadian restaurant, you might not get the whipped-cream desert cake you are expecting;
• in certain questionable eating establishments, if you ask the staff to 'Step On It', they likely will;
• ordering a 'Double – Double' in Tim Horton's doesn't ensure a really large Cup of Joe;
• a Dairy Queen is not a cross-dresser hanging out at the livestock barn;
• and, in BC establishments, Poached Salmon often refers to the method of acquisition, not cooking style.
In turn, Ross has endeavoured to educate us to the intricacies of everyday life in Australia. He is fond of pointing out that the Brits who originally settled here were common criminals banished as a form of punishment, and ended up in Paradise! What, indeed, is the Down Side of that!
Aussie Oddities
• (right) some of the plumbing shows its distinctly British origin;
• (below) a Band of locals, entertaining us with mu
sic down by the harbour;• (left) Freshly Coffee?
• There are no government-run liquor stores in Australia; all are privately owned. And there is no bottle deposit; empties pile up all around the town.
posted by Doug Rollins at 9:33 PM
1 Comments:
Hi guys - I'm really enjoying reading your Aussie blog! It makes a great break from cleaning, packing, and decluttering as I get the house ready to sell. I'm hoping to head to Chilliwack for an Easter dinner with Mom and Brian and Heather.
G'day mates.
Bobbie
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