Yesterday Mike and I went into Manly for the afternoon. Our first stop was Oceanworld, the local Manly aquarium. It's a lot smaller than the one in Sydney, and the top level was under construction. The first room is full of 8 tanks with different fish in each one, and one of the tanks holds a crocodile. I included a picture of a sea turtle. Her name is Sea Biscuit, and she was washed ashore during stormy weather. Oceanworld rescued her, but sadly she lost one of her front fins so they have helped her adapt to swimming with three! Like the Sydney Aquarium, the lower level is a tunnel that you walk through and see different sea life. The manta ray that is above Mike in the picture is the size of a queen mattress!! Also, they have eight grey nurse sharks in the tank. These sharks are endangered because of their scary appearance made them a big hunting target. In fact, they are not dangerous to humans. Overall, Oceanworld was really fun because it was not very crowded except for a lot of little kids running around with their families!
After Oceanworld, we found the "Manly scenic walkway." This trail goes along the harbour, and you can see a lot from it. There are a few different beaches along the way as well. We only walked a little way because I was tired with my cold. I'd like to walk the whole thing at one point because it had awesome views!
For an hour or so we walked along the Corso. I needed to find cold medicine, but at the first pharmacy they didn't have any out... very strange. At the next one a worker helped me pick out something. I'm glad he helped because I really didn't know which Australian medicine would work best, although I did see Benadryl. I also bought a hoodie that I had seen a couple of times and really liked. I figured I should at least have one in case I get cold here!! At one point there was a Brazilian drum and dance show which was interesting. One of the dancers tried to get Mike to dance, and he pretty much freaked out - hilarious!
We went to dinner at the Manly Phoenix, a Chinese restaurant on the Wharf. I had heard that the restaurant had good service, but that is not what I thought! We had a reservation at 5:30, and we showed up at 5:15 and asked if we could sit down. They told us they were closed at the moment so we would have to come back - but there were other people sitting down, and in their open hours it says 11 am until late! That seemed strange, and when we showed up at 5:30 they seated us, but asked if we could be done by 7. We had a table at the front which had a great view of the harbor, but right as we sat down, they begun to put down the black screens. An older Australian couple at the table next to us began complaining. They didn't want the screen down; they wanted to see the view and the sun was not a problem for them. They even talked to the manager and he still had the screen put down, so the couple left! It took them awhile to take our order, I tried duck for the first time - deep fried duck with sweet and sour sauce, and Mike ordered chicken with shallots and black beans pot. Both meals were really good! It was strange, they charge 3 dollars a person for steamed rice! We had to wait about 20 minutes after we were done eating to get our check (which put us close to not being done by 7! gasp.) I think they had forgotten about us. Overall, great food, but poor service.
For dessert we went to Max Brenner's chocolate shop. It is a little pricey, but it was delicious! We got a chocolate frappe which was basically a chocolate milk shake and the chocolate dip - strawberries with chocolate to dip in. So good!! I'll definitely be stopping there again for any of my chocolate needs.
Overall, it was a great day, and I was incredibly tired so I had no problem sleeping last night. Today it looks beautiful out, even though rain was forecasted... typical! Time to do work. Why do Sundays sneak up so quickly??
Cheers!
No comments:
Post a Comment