Sydney Northern Beaches - Manly & Freshwater

One of the most popular spots on along the northern beaches is Manly. Famous for it's surfing and accompanying surf culture, it has been the most visited in our time here in Sydney.
We frequently walk the 5/6km route from North Curl Curl to Manly Corso (high-street) to enjoy the many restaurants and bars, supermarkets and cafes.

View from Manly Wharf

At the west end of Manly Corso lies the Wharf. Busy with all of Manly's boat traffic including the twice-hourly ferries to Sydney's Circular Quay, the Wharf also has mooring and anchoring for private boats in the harbour. Luke and I have enjoyed many a sunset/take-away dinner here and enjoyed spotting the little resident penguins!
 The harbour bay is very serene and peaceful, despite the frequent ferry traffic. There are also two little sandy beaches, one complete with shark nets, that the sun-worshipers flock to in sequence with the afternoon sun.
On the east end of the Corso is Manly beach. There are various bars, cafes and restaurants that line the beach, which is sandy (obviously) and about 2km long. Needless to say, packed with surfers... one of which now includes Luke and his (our!) recently purchased surfboard. 15/01/13.
Manly also has a few very great night clubs and bars that we have often visited. Our favorite is a small, atmospheric bar called Insitu - mostly every night there is a live acoustic band or artist and rather more importantly happy hour(s) from 4-7pm. They also do a mean apple crumble cocktail. I think I have provided this place with sufficient publicity already!

Luke in front of Insitu and Ground Zero cafe

There is also a great bar/club conglomeration on the Corso called 'The Steyne' which has a a good dozen bars all interlinking in a central courtyard. There are rum and cider bars upstairs too.

During the majority of December I was employed at a shop called Surf Dive Ski, in the middle of the Corso. I was rather conveniently scouted for the job whilst visiting a Billabong (part of the same GSM empire/monopoly of surf stores) shop on one of our first trips in to Sydney city centre. Unfortunately the lure of traveling (and sheer laziness - I am out of practice!?) didn't see my employment extend beyond December. Did you know, chewing gum while peeling onions will keep you from crying? Fascinating!? No, I am not changing the subject.

Surfing at Freshwater on Christmas Eve

The walk from Curl Curl to Manly passes through Freshwater bay, a small sandy bay with, yet more, famous swell to sample. At each end of Freshwater is a large flight of stairs that we refer more aptly to as mountains - they require this mindset to climb them, trust me!
It was at Freshwater that we spent our Christmas eve, surfing with some great friends.

All in all, we have thoroughly enjoyed our stay an Sydney's Northern Beaches. When we arrive back from New Zealand on the 11th Feb, we will leave knowing that we have explored Sydney and it's surrounding areas to our best efforts and very ready to begin our travels up Australia's tourist trap, The East Coast!