Saturday in Sydney

Sydney, New South Wales, Australia

Saturday 20 July 2019

I was up and at it early today and took the scenic 20 minute walk down to Circular Quay to catch my ferry ride to Manly Beach. Along the way I passed through the Royal Gardens and walked along the harbour. It’s incredible how crystal clear their harbor water is! And in total I saw maybe 5 pieces of trash!! It is also the deepest natural harbour in the world reaching a max depth of 60 meters!




The ferry was huge holding probably a couple hundred people and the trip was about 30 minutes through the harbour. It gave a beautiful view of the Opera House, Harbour Bridge, and beautiful rocky coastlines. Manly had a cool beach town feeling to it and was lined on both sides by huge pine trees! And the water was unbelievably clear!! The story goes that this area was named what it was, because the people who discovered it thought the aboriginal people who were inhabiting the area were very “manly.”





I walked along the coastline (watching people free swimming from one beach to another) on my way to Shelly Beach. Once there I walked around, found some sea glass and shell fragments, and then headed up the hill to a beautiful view of the rocky coastline and the waves crashing into it! I could have stayed here for hours feeling the cool breeze, birds chirping, and the sounds of the ocean! But alas I had to head back to catch my ferry:( 

Once back on the mainland began my crazy “adventures” trying to figure out their public transportation system, buses and trains alike oh my! And all this, all for a little shop called The Peanut Butter Bar that I heard about 2 years prior on social media and saved, but never dreamed that I would actually get to be in Australia to visit it! So yes, I took 3 hours out of my day to get there and back and induce a food coma upon myself haha! BUT it was worth it!! I ordered a Hot Apple Crumble cake served with a scoop of vanilla gelato on top and a cup of peanut butter to pour over on the side! Oh, I almost forgot the biggest selling point of this place… they have the peanut butter ON TAP! But insiders secret... it was just gigantic tubs of Skippy pb that they were pouring into the mix haha. 

Afterward I took the bus back to the hotel, which I literally had to run to catch and nearly threw up after eating that beautiful but deadly creation haha! My last adventure in Sydney was to visit Hillsong Church! I attended their Waterloo campus, which joined with the Alexandria campus on saturday nights. The original Hillsong campus only has sunday services and I was flying out of Sydney in the morning sadly. BUT it was an incredible experience to attend the service, stand in the second row listening to their songs in the country of their origin. I got to meet wonderful and welcoming people and heard an incredible message that was much needed! 

It was a pleasure Sydney, Australia! I hope to return and see more of your hidden gems and all the beauty you have to offer! 

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