I think we’re all still recovering from yesterday.

I’m usually just fine with trips that are a bit open, flexible, spontaneous. I usually operate fairly well without a plan. I’m finding, though, that it’s a bit harder with a 4-year-old along. Ian is old enough to have—and express—opinions, but he’s still a bit fuzzy on things like time and distance. Let’s just say yesterday got off to a rocky start.

In the end, we took a ferry to Manly. It has an incredible beach, and a really charming seaside town kind of feel. But we weren’t equipped for swimming, so we made a couple of sandcastles and watched the surf lesson for a while. Then we set off for the Manly Scenic Walkway. It’s a 9 km trail, from the Manly Wharf, right along the coast through Sydney Harbour National Park, and ending at a place called The Spit. Since it was a weekday, and winter, the trail was practically empty. Stunning doesn’t begin to describe the scenery. Whether you’re practically at the water’s edge or high up on the cliffs (and yes, I finally saw the real sandstone cliffs of Sydney Harbour), the views were amazing. I always feel comparing one place to another is a bit of a cheat—like saying something tastes like chicken—but it’s inevitable sometimes. We were reminded quite a bit of Seattle, sometimes of Monterey, and walking past some of the houses, a bit of Malibu. In the end, of course, it was only really like Sydney, and it was beautiful. In the National Park bit, there are some Aboriginal rock carvings, lots of exotic looking native plants, and lots of birds. There are native lizards, as well, but it is winter, so they were nowhere in sight. Even Ian enjoyed it, although toward the end of the hike, he was really tired. In fact, we all slept very well last night.

Ian’s favorite part of the day: the ferry ride, and picking up seashells.