February 26th, Australia Day 7

This day was pretty much planned for me from the outset. Prior to the commencement of the school year, the Study Abroad and Exchange Office had organized an event for all overseas students at the International College for Tourism and Hotel Management (ICTHM). We were slated to go to Manly Beach, one of the more famous of the Sydney beaches (the most famous is probably Bondi, pronounced with an "eye" on the end).

The day went pretty much according to schedule as far as I could see. The buses picked up all those who wanted to participate; there were 7 city buses filled to the rafters with international students. The point was to meet students from around the world. I sat beside a guy named Juha from Suomi (Finland) and we talked for most of the trip. As it turned out, the bus driver had been to Canada some time before, when he visited Niagara Falls. The trip from Macquarie University to Manly took about 1 hour, all the time going through city suburbs, most of them, for the affluent. From what I'm told, the North Shore of Sydney is the wealthy section and the South Shore is more working class.

Manly, and the beach beside it, are almost directly east of Macquarie and is on the ocean, not in some bay. The itinerary called for students from the ICTHM to escort us to Shelly Beach, another, but smaller, beach close to the main one. The walk took no more than 10 minutes as I recall. We were told that the name "Manly Beach" comes from the first Europeans who came to the area and thought that the native Aborogines, or Aboriginals, were very masculine, hence the name. I asked how the women of the local tribe felt about that monicker but I was told that the answer was unknown.

I spent some time on Shelly Beach relaxing but for the most part, I went hiking, so to speak, under the cliffs of the area and there are photos of the interesting rock formations behind the beach. As you will see, there are a few other beaches in the area and I took some distant photos of them. The day was windy and the surf was considerable, in my opinion, but I have a feeling that it was normal for the area. It doesn't seem as though any water is calm along the eastern coast.

After about an hour around Shelly Beach, all international students were invited to the top of the bluffs where sits the campus of the ICTHM. It is designed in the gothic style and it is a very striking building. On the lawn there, we were treated to a concert by some local minstrels and there was a limbo contest, in which I did not participate; not because I hate limboing, but because someone had to take photos of the event. Besides, I'm not that flexible of body. After a BBQ lunch, and some more singing, which included a comical improvised version of "Sweet Home Alabama", I returned to my abode to rest after such an eventful, and gastronomic satisfying, day.

Photos are now available at: http://australiaday7.blogspot.com/