Manly beach and the case of the missing shoe

The day we decided to go to Manly beach happened to be the day of the Sydney marathon. This is slightly important to the story.

One of Eric's co-workers called to say they were taking the 10:30 ferry to Manly. We wanted to be on the same ferry as them so we hurried our asses up, got out of the apartment, down to the bus station to buy out $2.50 family fun day passes, down to the train station, on the train, and then we waited for the train to leave. Amelia refuses to walk so we had the dinosaur stroller with us. It's not bad except the elevators take FOREVER! We eventually just picked her up and took the escalator down.

The quickest way to Circular Quay is train + bus. So we exited the train at Martin Place, ran to the bus, only to find out the buses weren't actually going any further because of the marathon. Ok. Put Amelia back in stroller and go. Go fast! We walk (I lightly jog to keep up with Eric and his lengthy legs) to the ferry at Circular Quay. It wasn't actually that far and it was kind of fun to see the streets closed with all of the runners. Another thing which brings back San Francisco memories.

Eric pushing Amelia to the ferry.

The finish line!

Sydney Marathoners

I felt like we, too, made it to the finish line. Left our apartment around 9:45 and made it to the ferry before the 10:30 departure. There were loads of people waiting too.

What a queue at the Quay!

Waiting to get on the ferry.

One thing about Amelia: she intensely dislikes the wind. Any kind of wind. Wind from a hand dryer. Wind from the car window. Wind from, well, the wind! And being on the ferry was no exception. We had to stay inside (though I did pop outside for a little fresh air). During the 30 min. ride, we found ways to entertain ourselves.

Our seats

Dancing on the seats.

Peek-a-boo!

Up and over!

Once we got to Manly, we found the Third Floor folks and then headed off to our destination: Shelly beach. It was a nice long walk to the somewhat sheltered beach but we had to stop at beautiful ocean pool first. Amelia just had to go in it! Eric and I and Amelia went in, though I didn't stay in for too long--it was freezing! Not sure how Amelia did it really, but kids have some weird ability to be in icy water and not be bothered. I've seen this phenomenon at Norther California beaches where, even at the height of summer, the water hurst to go in! We saw lots of kids in this pool and I just wondered if there was something I could do to make my skin more resistent to the cold.

Manly has lots of sculptures, even at the pool!

Ocean water pool.

Playing on the steps.

View from the pool.

Finally, after an hour of so of getting in and out of the pool, it was time for lunch. We finished the walk to Shelly and, of course, they have a little over-priced cafe. We get our sandwiches and head to the sand. Big mistake. Not only is it windy (strike 1), and Amelia is over tired (strike 2), but we have to figure out how to get our behemoth stroller over to our blanket (which happens to be the one we just bought for Amelia at Ikea.) Eric folds it up and carries it over. His friends were all planning to go snorkeling so no one was around to watch the stroller (really, we should have just left it by the cafe--I mean, really, who would want to steal that thing????)

Shortly after getting to Manly, I bought a rather cheap beach umbrella. Another big mistake. I noticed not one single umbrella on the beach, only tents with mesh air vents. You know why? The wind. Of course. Eric had put the umbrella up and not 2 minutes later did that thing take flight, tumble end over end and then almost impale another beach-goer. So it's super sunny, windy and now we have sand in our over-priced lunch (which we haven't eaten yet). Hmph.

My little ghost!

After eating our sandy sandwiches, Eric took Amelia to the water. Oops. That didn't work. It was too sandy and her feet were dirty! Ok. Time for a nap. That was about 15-20 min of beach time. Next, gather everything back up. Pack it in the bags, carry everything but the stroller and umbrella back to the  cafe area. Eric went back for the stroller while I wiped Amelia's feet. Got her in the stroller and walked back towards the pool, hoping she would fall asleep. It was super windy and the little blanket we brought with us barely covered the stroller's hood. It was my feeble attempt to stop the wind from keeping Amelia awake. Eventually it worked.

I pushed the stroller all up and down the boardwalk while Eric and he cohorts played beach volleyball. It was fairly difficult to keep the blanket from flying away but eventually I had a stroke of genius: use one of the towels we brought instead! Wow. Why didn't I think of this sooner? After the 2 hours or so was up, Amelia finally came to and seemed very excited to see her daddy playing in the sand. We sat above the beach, at the boardwalk, cheering both sides. Amelia wanted to walk around but when I went to grab her shoes out from the basket at the bottom of the stroller... one was gone!

I couldn't believe it! Brand new shoes! How could this be? I was really upset. Had it fallen out on my walk? Did it come out near the pool? Had we lost it in the sand? I asked Eric to look in our other bag but it wasn't there. After he finished playing volleyball, I told him I wanted to look for the shoe. He, of course, thought I was crazy. Crazy Amelia wanted to go back in the pool, which by this time, must be even colder! The wind had picked up and the sun was going down. But one last dip might be fine. We all walked to the pool and I left them to freeze. My entire walk I kept going over the scenarios where I find the shoe, or I don't find it. How am I going to feel. Why am I so upset over a stupid shoe?

Eric and his co-workers all played beach volleyball.

Playing in the water... the cold, cold water!

The missing shoe.

I see families and want to ask them about a Lost & Found, but I keep walking. I get to the table where we sat after being on the sand and ask them about a shoe. They just look at me funny. I went inside the cafe and asked them about the shoe. Again, funny looks. No shoe. I venture to the sand and take off my own shoes, looking for our little spot. I see new faces, more kids, lots of shells (I get distracted by the shells), look out across the water and turn back to path. Feeling rather dejected, I look down, trying to rationalize all of this. I look up just a few inches and LO AND BEHOLD I FOUND THE SHOE! That's right! I found it! Seriously, not making this up, I dropped to my knees and shouted with glee! So stupid that finding that shoe would bring me such joy. I felt like a heavy weight had been lifted. My crummy beach day had a purpose after all. 

I went back to the people at the table and showed them the shoe." See? I said, I found it! It exists!" The lady in the cafe seemed rather surprised as if she was thinking, "Wow. No one ever finds lost beach crap." Walking back (on cloud 9) to Eric and Amelia I wondered how I was going to tell them I found it. My decision? Hide it behind my back and spring it on them. They were both excited and surprised as hell. The perfect reaction.

Practicing ballet moves in the water.

After this, we realized it was time to call it a day. Nothing, except ice cream could to that. And besides, Amelia's lips were turning blue--a sure sign she had had enough fun for the day.

View of Manly from the pool.

Still wanted to go in at the end of the day!.