Revisiting Manly and Releasing my Lunatic!

Hey Blog Fans!

We did get the ferry to Manly Beach yesterday eventually - got there at about 2pm! The weather was delish - lovely and sunny - and the ferry ride was just as good as it was last time. We took in great views of the Opera House and the Harbour Bridge, and sailed past the little fort sat in the middle of the harbour called Fort Dennison, where they quirkily set off a cannon every day at precisely 1pm.

We spent an hour or so on the beach, then I left Claire with the stuff and went on the hunt for a Roxy handbag. I found a Quiksilver shop that had some for $15, and they had the one with lovehearts on it that I've had my eye on, but it was just too small to fit my camera in! So I spent ages trying to decide which one to get, and settled for a white one with pink stripes that has 'Roxy' scrawled across it. It's lovely! I nipped into Boost on the way back to get mine and Claire's King William Chocolates and our loyalty stamps, and because the girl on the till didn't put them through separately (which I wasn't really that bothered about in fairness!) she gave them both to me for free! I was well chuffed! And confused slightly!

We arrived back to Circular Quay in time for the glorious sunset over the harbour. On a whim we decided to go to Luna Park, since it was open late and we weren't gonna be going out on our bender until about 10pm. We didn't have to pay extra to get the ferry over either as it was covered by our Day Tripper tickets that we bought to go to Manly. It was weird to be on the other side of the bridge and the harbour for a change!

We got unlimited ride tickets and went on nearly everything except a waltzer type of contraption (because by that time we were feeling pretty queasy!). Most of the rides were clearly ex-carnival rides, but the trouble was they looked really tame until we got on them! The 'Tango Train' was hilarious - like a hardcore merry-go-round. Claire was squashing me against the side of the carriage due to the force of gravity! There was one called the 'Ranger' - just like the Excalibur at Camelot, and one called the 'Dominator' (they all had cheesy names by the way!) which was that one where you sit in a long row and go around in a circle against the back of the ride. The scariest was the 'Wild Mouse' - just liike the 'Mad Mouse' at Blackpool - cos it felt like it was just going to swing right of the track! I made Claire sit in the front for that one, and it took her a second or two to process what I'd said: "Bagsy not sitting in the front!" ... ... ... ... ... "WHAT????".

Anyway, after a go on the 'Tumble Bug' (which stands on the spot where a Big Dipper ride used to be, before they closed it down after complaints from nearby residents about the screaming) we thought it best to get back and have some tea (before we lost our dinner), and good job too because we caught the last ferry back to Circular Quay!

We had a tea of filled pasta and spicy tomato sauce, then got dolled up for our night out! We started in Side Bar and had a few drinks and a dance, then walked down to Darling Harbour. We had a drink in Home Bar (a coke cos I couldn't afford an alcoholic one!), then moved onto Home Night Club. We had to run a gauntlet of two sets of ID requesting bouncers and a metal detection and bag search station, before getting to the counter and realising we didn't have enough cash to get in! So we went to the ATM and then had to run the gauntlet a second time (you would've thought they'd just let us through since they'd seen us minutes before but no!). It was $25 to get in but it was the best $25 I've ever spent on a night out. The DJ was amazing - best set of house I've heard in a while! We had a right good dance (or I did at least - Claire looked slightly bored but said she had a good time!) then left at around 2am. Great night!