By Nick Hodson, September 2004.
For a couple of weeks in September 2004 we visited my relatives in Sydney. One of them lives in Manly, a suburb to the north of the harbour, and early in our holiday we went on the Manly ferry from Circular Quay, to meet up with her and other relatives.
There are actually two Manly beaches, the one beside where the ferry comes in, in relatively sheltered water, and the other a quarter of a mile away, a true Pacific Ocean beach to which we walked after our lunch. In fact there is a narrow isthmus, which connects the North Head to the rest of the northern suburbs.
Beside the Ferry Terminal, just where we had lunch, we spotted a place where you could hire kayaks. A week later, when we had the opportunity, we went again on the Manly ferry, and booked a session on the water.
Soon after setting off we stopped to take pictures of each other, and then paddled hard for a couple of miles to a beach at the foot of the North Head, at the entrance to the Harbour. On our return I noticed some ground swell beating against a rocky headland. Now here in Britain, when you see that sort of thing you go right into it in the hope of playing in the breaks. It is a very amusing thing to do. So naturally I steered towards it. But when it was almost too late I realised that the rocks were covered with large razor sharp shellfish of some kind. Not fairly smooth like our British rocks. If I had got anywhere near those things I would have been shredded. Literally. Then the blood would have brought the sharks along, to finish me off. Curtains.
And indeed it was almost too late. I very nearly was caught up in a bongo slide into the very jaws of death. Luckily the break didn’t quite catch me, and I gave the rocks a wide berth for the rest of our trip. Those sharp shellfish were everywhere, very nasty indeed.
Yes, we enjoyed our time in kayaks in Sydney Harbour. Maybe we’ll do it again some day.