Spit Bridge to Manly Hike

Atlassian QA Team goes for a walkabout

As many of you know I work for Atlassian, a Sydney based software company that develops software for software teams. If you haven't heard of Atlassian you might have heard of JIRA or Confluence which is our two most well known products. 

Atlassian is a good company and they take care of their employees with lots of social activities. A few weeks ago the QA Team took the afternoon of for some team activities. We had two choices, either doing the Spit Bridge to Manly walk or a chocolate making course. For me it was an easy choice since I am not really a big fan of chocolate and but hiking on the other hand is something I really enjoy doing.

The Hike

I was really impressed by the hike, I had heard it was suppose to be great but still it blew me away. The hike takes you through bush land, beaches, cliff walks, great views and there is even great aboriginal rock carvings to stop and look at. Since we were doing it on a week day it was pretty much empty too, I can image that on a nice weekend it would be much more crowded.

I'd like to go back when I have more time, bring some picnic and stop at some beach or view point along the hike and chill out. Bring my binoculars and maybe my bird book. 

You can read more about the hike at

• http://short-walks.com.au/new-south-wales/sydney/spit-bridge-to-manly-walk/
• Trip Advisor

Here are some photos from the hike, they do not really do the walk justice but should give you an idea of how beautiful it is. Click for larger version.

Sandy Bay

The plane wrote "Fix Trains" in the sky 

Brush Turkey getting ready to jump it.

My colleagues Glenn and Mikael chasing a brush turkey.

The water is crystal clear, wouldn't mind going for a swim here.

We did a halfway stop at Grotto Point which has plenty of Aboriginal Stone Carvings.

South Head in the distance.

Here you can see parts of Manly and North Head.

View towards Manly

Some statistics

4 Pines Brewery

After the hike both groups, hikers and chocolate makes meet up at the 4 Pines Brewery, a brewery in Manly, for dinner and drinks. The food was alright and I really enjoyed the drinks. We got tasting platters which I am not a big fan of, but the rest of the menu looked great. I'd definitely go back back for a veggie burger or veggie schnitzel. 

http://www.4pinesbeer.com.au/

Manly Beach

Hi

This weeks outing went to Manly Beach in North Sydney. Manly is a bit touristy but is absolutely lovely, you take your walks down long car free streets with plenty of opportunity to stop for a beer and chips, or more fancy food along the way, there are plenty of streets going of the main one where there is less tourist and more laid back places.

We found a lovely little Swedish Cafe called Fika where we stopped for Swedish Coffee and Kanelbullar. On the menu they served Swedish Meatballs, Skagenröra, Knäckebröd and other Swedish goodness. The staff was a friendly mix of Scandinavians so I get a chance to talk my mother tongue if only for a few minutes. Well worth a visit and it takes you of the crowded main streets in Manly.

http://fikaswedishkitchen.com.au/

To get to Manly you take a 30 minutes ferry from Circular Quay, it's about $14 return and it's lovely to go out during the day and return to the city after dark so see the city lit up. Both leaving and returning to the city gives you great views of the Opera House, Sydney Harbor Bridge and Luna Park. But be prepared to be crowded by all the tourists with their cameras if you want to get some good photos.

The Manly beach is pretty long compare to Bondi and Tamarama, my two local beaches, it's about 3 km long and there is a promenade that goes along the beach. I am sure it's crowded in the summer but at the moment it wasn't to busy. A dozen families with kinds building sand castles and 50 or so surfers. We walked along the promenade from the south to north where the beach connects to a large lagoon. There we found a park where a street artist displayed his soap bubble stunts.

We walked back as the sun set, grabbed a snack at the wharf and headed home. 

Finishing the outing with dinner at Grilld in Bondi Junction made this day pretty much perfect. 

http://www.grilld.com.au/locations/#location/new-south-wales/sydney/bondi-junction 

Thank you for reading. 

Fort Denison

Nicole and the Sydney Harbor Bridge

The Sydney Heads, just before Manly beach.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sydney_Heads

Nicole at the play ground.

Lagoon at the end of the beach

Balloon guy doing his art

Sun set at manly. The sun actually sets the other direction. But you get some colorful lights.

Manly looking North

Manly looking south

Opera House by night