Saturday, December 1, 2007

AU2007 - Manly

Manly is a suburb of northern Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. While Captain Arthur Philip was scouting for fresh water in the area, he was speared in the shoulder by the Kay-ye-my clan after a misunderstanding. Due to the clan’s confidence and manly behaviour, Philip named the place Manly Cove.

 

 

On a lovely sunny day, we took the Manly Ferry from Circular Quay to Manly, a 30 minutes journey with scenic views of Sydney Harbour and its surrounding national parks.

 

 

Arriving into Manly Wharf, …

 

 

… we walked along the Corso, a pedestrian plaza and one of Manly's main streets for shopping and dining, running from the ferry wharf and harbour beach all the way across the peninsula to Manly Beach.

 

 

Manly Beach is a well known beach situated in Sydney's Northern Beaches, Australia. From north to south, the three main sections are Queenscliff, North Steyne, and South Steyne. The end of the Corso marks the boundary between North Steyne and South Steyne beach.

 

 

We then spent some time on the beach, taking in the fresh ocean breeze, ...

 

 

… before the girls decided to jump into the water.

 

 

Soon its time to leave, where we again walked along the Corso to the wharf to catch our next ferry back to Circular Quay.

 

Thursday, September 27, 2007

AU2007 - Canberra: Day 2

This morning, we had a quick tour around the Australian National University before driving 3 hours back to Wollongong.

 

 

Before we hit the Hume Highway again, we had a quick stop at Cockington Green Gardens. Family owned and operated, Cockington offers fascinating display of meticulously crafted miniature buildings set within beautifully landscaped gardens.

 

 

 

Originally displaying the best and unusual styles of Great Britain, the gardens had expanded to include International exhibits from 21 countries, sponsored by the respective embassies in Canberra.

 

 

Interesting displays include the Borobudur Temple in Indonesia, …

 

 

… the Borgund Stave Church of Norway, …

 

 

… the St Mark’s Church of Croatia, …

 

 

… the El Capitolio of Venezuela, …

 

 

… the Australian gold mining scenes, …

 

 

the Lynton and Lynmouth Cliff Railway of Great Britain, …

 

 

… the Pueblito Paisa of Colombia, …

 

 

… the Escena del Quijote of Spain, …

 

 

… the temple and pagoda of Korea, ...

 

 

… the Grotto Constantia of South Africa, …

 

 

… the Tenochtitlan Aztec Temple of Mexico, …

 

 

… the Machu Picchu of Peru, …

 

 

… the Leanders Tower (Kiz Kulesi) of Turkey, …

 

 

… the Treasury (El Khazneh) of Jordan, …

 

 

… the Karlstejn Castle of Czech Republic, …

 

 

… and many others.

 

 

Visitors could also hop on the Cockington Green Gardens Railway miniature steam train that encircles the International Displays.

 

 

 

All in all, it was a relaxing and fun-filled weekend getaway.

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