Day 1: Airlie Beach to Manly
A rainbow greeted us the morning we left. Our host let us do a late checkout so we were able to spend one last morning on the terrace. Our shuttle picked us up right on time.
The flight was uneventful and we had nice views of the coast and over Sydney when we arrived.
We booked a shuttle with Redy2Go, who we used the last time we were here. They offer drop-off and pickup from the Manly Fast Ferry dock. We saw the sunset from the ferry on our way over.
We dropped our bags and headed out to the bottle shop and to the Hotel Steyne for dinner, with Young Henry’s pale ale. (We also made reservations for dinner tomorrow at a pizza place that looked good but was fully booked tonight.)
Day 2: Manly Beach Coast Walk
We have a sideways sea view from our room. The sunrise through the pines is gorgeous and it’s fun watching all the activity down by the beach. Makes you want to go outside. After coffee. We bought brekkie for the next couple or mornings from Manly Bakery. All the bakeries were closed by the time we arrived yesterday or we would have done it then.
Manly Beach is long and wide and has a couple of paved walkways parallel with the beach. It’s bordered by pine trees so there is shade near the beach, if not on it. We visited Manly Beach the last time we were here. It was definitely not beach weather that day and we could still see the potential. So here we are again!
We walked down to Shelly Beach and along the coast beyond for a bit. The views were great and the path easy to follow.
There was a street market going on. I bought a cashmere scarf and we shopped for other trinkets. Then we got a good seat at the Ivanhoe Hotel and had a couple of pints and people watched. We had excellent pizza at Forno 46 later.
Day 3: Trinket Shopping and Walking
Another day, another pretty sunrise through the pines. Plus a rainbow! We borrowed a luggage scale from the front desk so we could weigh our carry-on bag. (Airlines outside the USA often have weight restrictions on carry-on bags. Check to avoid surprises.)
We did more trinket shopping and found lots of cute stuff at Bits of Australia. (You can order online if you can’t make it to Australia.)
There is so much activity here. People, walking, running, cycling, walking dogs. Beach volleyball, swimming. We watched a surf competition for a few minutes. We just walked in the other direction along the beach.
Somewhere in our travels today we ran across this map, which kind of nicely sums up this trip to New Zealand and Australia.
Essentials
Lodging
We had a Beach View Large Room at Manly Paradise Motel & Apartments. The room was a large corner room, with a side view of the beach. It’s a great location right across the street from the beach and close to lots of shops and restaurants. We checked in late and our directions for getting in were spot on. The front desk staff were very nice; even let me use their toilet on our last day, since the public one down at the beach was closed for cleaning. The one down side was a very small bathroom sink. But it was fine for handwashing and we had the sink in the kitchenette available too.
Dining
There are plenty of places to eat around Manly. We had a burger and chicken parm at Hotel Steyne the night we arrived, because it was late and we were tired and hungry. Forno 46 had excellent capricciosa and pepperoni pizza. We had excellent fish and chips at Fins & Ribs.
Transportation
Manly is a 20-minute ferry ride from Circular Quay in Sydney. We booked Redy2Go to and from the airport. They communicated well with where to meet us when we got off the ferry, etc. We were able to walk everywhere within Manly. We didn’t feel a need to go into the city on this visit — we saw many of the sights on our first visit — but knew the fast and frequent ferry would work if we needed to.