Sydney Part II - Mosman & Manly

Sydney Part II – Mosman & Manly,

MOSMAN

Bright and early Tuesday morning and the last few hours of the Hop on Hop off bus ticket we took the final stage of the journey and disembarked down by the Opera House and made our way to Circular Quay to catch the ferry to Mosman.

Mosman was where my Dad spent some time during the war, billeted with a family in Moruben Road. Our quest was to find the house where he stayed with the Copeland family all those years ago. After taking the ferry to Mosman Bay and the bus to Mosman Junction the kindly bus driver put us off at the closest point, where we walked down the hill and into the road. Not knowing exactly which house it was (52 0r 54) a lady from number 50 came out and we asked her if she knew where the Copelands had lived but it was a very long time ago and before the time in which she had lived there. However, she looked at our photos and by a process of elimination we determined that the house was 54 Moruben Road. Unfortunately the lady who lived there Ruth Nash was not at home so we were unable to see more of the house only the outside. The house was considerably changed but the old sandstone from the photo was clearly visible. It was certainly a lovely home with a beautiful swimming pool. It was a very strange feeling being in a place that I had heard of many years ago and remember meeting the Copelands daughter when she came to visit us in England when I was around eight years old.

Mosman Bay is a beautiful place. The beach is lovely with a nice pavilion and promenade. It was quite surreal to think that my Dad had walked in this place all those years ago. We had a superb lunch in a small restaurant down by the beach, overlooking the bay and afterwards walked along to the sports fields. It was very hot as we climbed the steep hill to Georges Head where we were treated to magnificent views across the Bay and subsequently at Middle Head. These places were lookouts during the war for incoming adversaries, primarily from Japan, one of the reasons I believe that my Dad’s Naval Ship was there.

At Georges Head I saw my first Kookaburra and totally wild, what a thrill!!!!

After hiking back from Middle Head to the Naval Base, in the heat, we opted to catch the bus back up to Mosman Junction, the town’s little High Street. Luckily for us it was due in three minutes and right on time. It was getting to be late afternoon when we got off the bus so we did not have time to explore the High Street, but walked down the hill back to the ferry, procuring a much needed bottle of chilled water on the way. The ferry departed and we bade farewell to Mosman Bay and what might have been if my Dad had worked at the butcher shop in the High Street. It would have been a very different life, where after the war these beautiful homes were two for a penny, due to the threat of invasion. The homes here now start at over a million and people commute to Sydney by ferry. What a wonderful way to travel and they still use all the old ferries.

Arriving back in Circular Quay we watched this amazing sand sculpture of the cabin of a Qantas Jet being completed and life-size at that. We then caught the regular bus back to Kings Cross, as we needed meet Peter and Stephanie for dinner at a famous Vietnamese Restaurant called The Red Lantern.

Sydney Harbour Bridge with the Solstice from the Ferry

Jim on the Mosman Ferry

Sydney Harbour Bridge

The Opera House from the Ferry

Walking down the hill to Moruben Road

54 Moruben Road

Kookaburra

View from Georges Head

Barbara at Middle Head

Mosman Junction

Leaving Mosman Bay on the Ferry

Leaving Mosman on the Ferry

Qantas Sand Sculpture

MANLY

The following day, Wednesday, we caught the ferry to Manly. It was another hot day and a longer boat ride as Manly is further away than Mosman. This was a trip Jim had done many times before during his stint in Sydney in the 70’s. The ferry system in Sydney Harbour is phenomenal and always on time. It is just like a very large train station only with boats not trains.

The Marine Parade at Manly was constructed in 1898 and the beach was originally called Cabbage Tree Beach after the numerous Cabbage Trees that once grew there. Manly, is a much busier and more of a touristy place than Mosman, very vibrant and bustling with people. There are many touristy shops and street musicians and all that goes along with a seaside town.

We walked from the ferry, through the shopping parade, to the beach the other side and along the promenade. The promenade is a fascinating place with some lovely bronze sculptures on the rock walls and at the lagoon type swimming pool along its edge. There are magnificent views to and from the promenade. After returning back to the main hub we strolled along the other side to the Skiff Club for a wonderful lunch overlooking the yachts in the bay……………..