Manly

For once in a long, long time I wasn't hung over on the 1st January and admittedly I felt rather smug seeing everyone dragging themselves around the hostel looking like shit warmed up! I left for Manly Bay in the peeing rain (as I said EVERY time I need to get on a boat it rains). Nearly broke my neck on a couple of occasions due to extremely slippery flip flops but I continued in earnest, beach gear to hand. Thankfully by the time I got to Manly ( a 35min trip from Sydney Circular Quay) the sun was out and I no longer looked like an overzelous Brit heading for the beach in the rain.

I met up with Justin (a volunteer on the jungle project I worked on in Peru) and his girlfriend Liv and we caughted up over a lunch of salt and pepper squid, which was surprisingly delicious.It's been two and a half years and Justin hadn't changed at all - apart from the rather large scars on his hand and arm from Leishmaniasis (flesh eating parasite caught from a sandfly bite).

After a catch up over a few hours, Justin and Liv had to head off so I headed for the beach where I chilled for a couple of hours, ploughing through another chapter of my new found 'Bible'. Had a wander around the coast and watched a guy with his dog swimming in the sea. The dog was hugely amusing - he kept climbing onto flat rocks, then running and launching himself into the sea. He looked like he was having an amazing time. It was 8pm by the time I got home, so just enough time to cook some pasta, meet some hostel pals, then head here to nerd!