Manly — Today in Thyme — Moonbeams in Thyme

If you walk into any shop or store here in Oz you'll be greeted with "How's it going?" -- which I adore! So here is how it's been going.

Manly is a fantastic beach town with everything you could want and more. I took the first few days to unplug and get into my groove with yoga and the beach. On day 3 I ventured into Sydney to meet up with fellow Saratogians; Garth and Jenny and Burnt Hill-ian by association Jason. We had a glass of bubbly at the Langham Hotel bar which was beautiful. Picture super swanky hotel with lots of pink and gold, accompanied with a ginger rose essence that wafted through the hotel bar.

Onward we strolled to Darling Harbor and dined at Nick's. The salmon and dill dip was awesome. After dinner we headed to Hotel Palisade Rooftop bar. We ordered some more bubbly and took in the evening views of the bridge and opera house before calling it a night. It was so lovely to catch up and see familiar faces after 3 days of solo time. I must've drank a bit too much as I fell asleep on the Ferry ride back to Manly ... Whoops.

The next day I woke and headed for the Spit Bridge. There is a beautiful costal walk that takes you from Spit Bridge into Manly, so I packed a bag, threw on my sunnies and suit and headed into the hot sun. Along the walk there are numerous beaches to hop in and out of, and I did just that. The walk weaves you through a mix of lush bushland complete with lots of backyard garden spiders - eep, and scenic views of the harbor and ocean. I forget exactly where I snapped some of the pictures below, but I think my captions are roughly I accurate!

Sydney Harbor National Park at Crater Cove Lookout

The walk took about 3 hours to complete before I got back into the harbor and headed back to the apartment to meet up with Allie & Sam. We grabbed dinner at a great little Mexican joint called Havana Beach -- the plantain chips and house mojitos are a must have!! To finish the night we went to North Head to watch the sun set over Sydney. Just another reason to fall in LOVE with Manly.

We woke the next day did a soft sand run in Manly beach, hit up a yoga class at Power Living, and hit the road in Sams sweet '69 VW bug bound for Dee Why Beach. We ate at a cute little cafe named Girdlers and consumed what I consider the best brekky ever. IT WAS AMAZING. Everything from the ambiance to the seating. Homemade kombucha on tap and avo toast to die for. I am getting hungry just thinking about it.

Post brekky we ventured to Bluefish Point. This was another interesting walk through the bush and trails which snaked along the coast. You'll see an old WWII lookout and radar tower. The views were stunning. We climbed down to see the Rock Pools just below the Bluefish look out. This was a bit terrifying -- the only way down is to hold onto a old rusty chain rope and climb down the cliff. We conjured up some courage and climbed to get down to the pools. As terrifying as this was, it was totally worth it.

The rusty chain (probably from WWII ... I kid, but probably for real) rock route

View of the sand and wind blasted cliffs from the pools

Pit stop on the walk to dinner with Allie! I adored this church door and insisted on a picture.

After surviving the climb back up, we headed to Collins Beach for a quick swim and few rounds of frisbee. Post swim we picked up some wine and went to Manly Beach for Happy Hour. Mix some wine and sun and presto, a bit buzzed we strolled towards town and stopped off for a few other pre-dinner cocktails and finally dinner at Cured Manly; we feasted on cheese, meats, bread, olives, and more wine! What a fantastic night we had! The morning was a little rough, but nothing a little SUP yoga session at flow mOcean taught by Allie couldn't cure in Shelly Beach.

After class we grabbed lunch at a cafe called Pure Wholefoods -- I was craving an Acai Bowl which did not disappoint. In my haste I didn't snap a pic, but trust me when I tell you it was fantastic! Walter is the owner of this cafe and was so lovely, greeting all the ladies with "Hello Darling". The shop has a slew of fresh cold salads, smoothies, and other hippie granola eats. The muffins were even made of almond flour. Let's just say that I was in heaven, and I wanted to order every damn thing I saw. I'll be back again at the end of the month to sample more eats!