Yesterday we spent a day at Manly Beach. According to history, when captain Philip arrived with his First Fleet to found Sydney “[the indigenous people’s] confidence and manly behaviour made me give the name of Manly Cove to this place.” Nowadays, Manly Beach is a popular hangout for swimmers and surfers.

But don’t forget: we’re in Australia. Which means that everything is out to get you, such as the infamous Bluebottle or Portugese Man o’ War. When you get stung by one of those, you will not behave manly.

As you can see, Australians laugh in the face of danger and went swimming anyway.

I’m not a real beach person myself. I’m not fond of swimming; I don’t surf; and I don’t like getting stung by exotic animals. But even I liked walking along the beach. Starting at the point where the road from the ferry meets the beach, we walked south towards Shelly Beach over the Marine Parade.

And here, between two popular beaches, you suddenly have the Cabbage Tree Bay Aquatic Reserve: a protected piece of nature. Here we got a lovely view of this Australian Pied Cormorant.

After Shelly Beach, we walked along the Shelly Beach Walking Track for some more nature and great views of the Pacific Ocean:

On the way back to Manly Beach we enjoyed the little statuettes along the Marine Parade.

And we learned that Water Dragons can be so dangerous that they deserve their own signs.

All in all, Manly Beach was a lot more fun than I expected and I can heartily recommend spending a day over there.