A Day Off, Out and About

What a great day. I have been out of the house all day, and haven’t been anywhere near the gym! I felt like a break, and I sure got it, although I did still get some exercise in. My partner and I spent the day at Manly, on Sydney’s north shore, near the entrance to the harbour mouth. It is a spectacular suburb, a real gem. Having a beach like that within a short ferry ride of downtown Sydney (which is a 10 minute train ride from our home) is just magic.

We left home to get the train at about 10:00 a.m. The highlight of the day was a historical tour through the old quarantine facility on North Head. As I said, we were meeting colleagues of my partner, and it was her work that had organised the event. The facility has been closed since 1984 and was where migrants to Australia were quarantined if the ship they traveled on carried any sickness. It was subsequently used to house refugees from various parts of the world at various times.

It was a fascinating tour covering the facilities in the complex. It provided an interesting historical perspective on international travel that is largely confined to the past. Our tour guide did point out that during the SARS outbreak, the provisions applied in the quarantine station were put back into effect (face masks, isolation, and quarantine). Quarantine facilities are now located elsewhere.

The tour also provided us with a look at a side of Sydney and Australia that you seldom see. The tour showed a piece of history in the ‘new world’ that is still with us today. The graffiti on the rocks made by the crews of vessels sent to quarantine was fascinating. They were etched into the rock cliff face, and the oldest one I could find dated back to 1863. They normally contained the name of the ship, the year, and the names of some crew members. Some contained a reference to the illness that forced them into quarantine (most notably the 1918 pandemic of Spanish Influenza).

While the tour was interesting, the views and the surrounding environment were quite stunning. The view across to Bondi and back down the habour to the central city were second to none. It was one of the most impressive views that I have seen of the layout of Sydney city since living here. If anyone is in town I would recommend it, however if you only have the chance to visit Manly for a short period of time, get a good look around the centre of Manly and the wonderful beach (which is the feature photo I have put up today).

Manly central is well developed, and today there was a market day with producers and importers of boutique products selling their wares. There was some good stuff available, and we picked up some interesting sounding coffee. The coffee is Huehuetenango, a Mayan coffee from Guatemala grown at high altitude, according to the salesman. I haven’t been able to try it yet, but will give it a go tomorrow morning. It certainly smelled wonderful, and again according to the salesman (who may have reeled us in but given it was only $13.00 and we had no coffee in the house I didn’t care that much!) the beans have a stronger flavour when grown at high altitude. I’ll put that through a critical test tomorrow morning!

So, all in all today was a great day for us. I am looking forward to tomorrow, and hitting the gym in the morning. I have yet to make a decision on the personal trainer but will talk with her tomorrow about a few things. I’ll let you know how that goes, and what decision, if any is reached tomorrow. Until then, fight the fat!