Sydney visit - part two

One of the things we love about staying in Manly is the access it gives us to fabulous walks - around its beautiful harbour and along its stunning beaches, facing out to the Pacific Ocean. Under clear blue skies on Saturday morning we set out on a 11 klm walk around Manly's Jiling Cove, North Harbour, past Forty Baskets Beach, and almost as far as Reef Beach and the bushland of Dobroyd Head.......

...and then back into town for a late slap up breakfast at Fusion Point in Rialto Square. If Manly has a vibrant food scene we still haven't discovered where it is! We've had coffee at Fusion Point before and it does that well - but the food there is pretty basic (but comes in huge quantities!).

Saturday afternoon we'd arranged to meet up with my friend Tania at an art opening at Defiance gallery at Mary Place in Paddington. I hadn't seen my dear friend Tania in quite a few months so we had a lot to catch up on, in between looking at the work of the artist Peter Powditch and chatting with heroes like John McDonald (art critic for the SMH and film critic for the Financial Review) and the venerable Ron Robertson-Swan OAM.

While Tania and I talked on Rob did a bit of a wander around the character filled streets of gentrified Paddington admiring the detailing on its Victorian terraces and remarking on how tiny they are!

Sunday dawned another clear blue sky day - perfect for our planned walk northwards along the coast. Just past Queenscliff Beach, Manly Creek is a distinctive landform.

Once we'd got as far as Freshwater Beach we thought it was time to stop for a coffee and a bite to eat at Pilu Baretto. Sunday was Mothers Day so there were heaps of family groups picnicking on the lawns facing the beach. It was fun to sit and watch all the family interactions and beach activity.

We ended up walking as far as South Curl Curl - another beautiful Sydney Beach, with spectacular tidal pools at this end of the bay.

We walked the long way back to Manly, along the boardwalk to the McKillop Park headland facing Freshwater Beach.

We stopped to watch the paddle boarders at Freshwater Beach too for a while, riding waves in perfect conditions.

We'd arranged to meet up with Tania again last night, together with Alan and Aine - at the superbly located Opera Bar, at the magic sunset hour. We got there about 4.00pm and managed to get one of the best tables "in the house". So we stayed there for the next three to four hours: talking, laughing, eating, drinking red wine and appreciating together this most fabulous location (and sunset) that you would find anywhere in the world.

It was such a thrill to hear how this young woman has been navigating her first few months working for one of the Big 4s. We think Aine is a world beater in every sense of the word and we will love seeing her make her way in the world and gain the recognition she is due in the world of work.

I loved seeing Tania again. She energises me and gets me thinking in new directions, but she is also wonderful company: intelligent, creative, warm and funny, and always up for a laugh. No wonder her daughters are so amazing.

We were keen for one more walk before we left Manly this morning - but that rainbow misled us. It started raining too hard for us to make much progress so we made do with a cup of Sonoma coffee and a croissant from the Wharf before making our way back to Canberra.