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How could I stand myself if I didn’t visit at least ONE beach while out in OZ??!  The answer is, I would’ve had to shove toothpicks through my eyeballs on the flight home if I didn’t, and I think somehow Joey felt that I’d go insane if my olfactory sense didn’t perceive salt air.

Fellow water lensman Morgan Maassen told me that a visit to Bondi was “a must”.  Try as I might, I just could not get within 10 minutes of the area; it was just like a conspiracy.  Or, maybe it was a higher source letting me know that Bondi would have to wait for a future visit.  At any regard, Joey leaned over and asked if I “…wanted to visit a beach.”

Skip backward to the flight in.  I sat next to a guy named Ian Hopkinson, a musician born & raised in Queensland, now flying home to visit with this wife and her family before flying back to L.A. with her where they both now live.  Ian and I hit it off, both being hard working creative individuals, and discussions quickly went toward Sydney’s “must do/see” list.  This, of course, came in between 6-hour naps in the 747.  He asked me were I aimed on visiting, and I mentioned Bondi.  He gave me a smirk, then suggested that I give Manly Beach a try instead.  He suggested that it more suited my character…

Cut back to the drive away from Whiteline Suspension’s factory.

“Yeah, if we can squeeze it in” I replied.  Joey then asked what beach there was nearby.  A quick reference to my iPhone (now that I’d managed to switch roam carriers to Vodafone and it worked BETTER than with AT&T here in the homeland…) showed that Manly Beach was a mere 40 minutes away, just outside of Sydney!

It was a great trip decision.  The best way to describe Manly is a cross-up between Huntington Beach, Newport, Dana Point, and Long Beach.  There are two sides to Manly; one side is a harbor/marina where boats are docked in a calm bay, and the other side of the town faces open ocean.  2-3′ sets were rolling through that particular arvo (afternoon), and the logs were out four to five riders sitting upon three peaks.  The water clarity was AMAZING.  I may sound dense saying that, but honestly when you’re used to a maximum of 5′ decent visibility, being able to see schools of fish swimming around pier pilings measuring up to 40″ long in water more than 20′ deep is AMAZING.  It was like being at the Aquarium of the Pacific!

There were typical touristy shops in Manly’s town section, but the one place that really caught my eye was an ice cream shop that claimed “real swiss ice cream”.  HAD to try it, right??  And, like Manly itself, it was AMAZING!

The time was in between lunch and dinner while there, and the decision was made to head back to Sydney again to experience a different part of it for dinner.  Joey and I headed back to the car to head into the big city, but not before stopping in at the local grocery for a dozen packs of Tim Tam’s in original and dark chocolate.

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For more information on Ian Hopkinson or his music, please visit http://www.hopkinsonmusic.com/.