Although we’re ‘on holiday’, Liesel is still working ‘from home’. It’s a different home though now of course. At this time of year, there’s a five hour time difference between Sydney and Anchorage. They’re five hours ahead, but a day behind. So on this ‘day of rest’, Liesel worked hard, while I rested. Well, somebody’s got to do the resting. And then I wrote for a couple of hours.
Down the road at Brookvale Oval, a very important rugby game was taking place. We thought about going to watch, but didn’t quite make it. But we enjoyed hearing the crowd cheer on the home team, Manly Sea Eagles who were playing Sydney Roosters. The National Rugby League competition is very popular, judging by the size of the crowd and the noise they made. The Sea Eagles won by 21 points to 14.
But how do we know it was a big crowd? Well, later on, as we were driving into Manly for dinner, we passed many, many fans, walking away from the park, or waiting for buses, or holding up traffic by crossing the roads, most dressed in the maroon and white colours of Manly Warringah Sea Eagles Rugby League Football Club, to give it its full name.
Our destination was Saké Manly Wharf for some iconic Japanese dining. Me, well, I’m always a bit cautious around Japanese food, I just can’t forget that undelicious lump of gristle found infesting my ‘vegetable’ soup that time in Japan. And then of course there’s the time someone persuaded me that oyster sauce was made from oyster mushrooms, not actual oysters!
But tonight’s experience was much better. We had a selection of dishes, all of which were delicious, edamame, crispy tofu, tempura eggplant, broccolini and, well, I’ll have to see the menu again the remind me. Thank you Helen and Brent for taking us out.
There you go, now you know what Brent looks like! Thanks to the waiter who took the picture.
Nobody had dessert apart from me. Helen ordered me a dragon’s egg, and of course, I had no idea what to expect. Later on, I asked my AI friend to explain:
ChatGPT 3.5
Mick
At Saké Manly Wharf, they serve something called a Dragon’s Egg. What is it?
ChatGPT
The Dragon’s Egg at Saké Manly Wharf is a signature dish featuring sushi rice, spicy tuna, and avocado wrapped in thinly sliced cucumber, resembling a dragon’s egg. It’s a popular and visually appealing dish known for its flavors and presentation.
Mick
No it’s not. It’s a dessert, it has chocolate
ChatGPT
Apologies for the confusion. The Dragon’s Egg dessert at Saké Manly Wharf is a chocolate-themed dessert. It typically consists of a chocolate shell filled with various decadent ingredients such as mousse, cake, or fruit, resembling a dragon’s egg in appearance.
Mick
Why didn’t you say that in the first place?
ChatGPT
I apologize for the oversight. Thank you for providing the correct information. If you have any further questions or need more details, feel free to ask!
Mick
I’d rather ask my eight-year old granddaughter, thanks though
ChatGPT
Of course! If you have any other questions or need assistance in the future, don’t hesitate to reach out.
ChatGPT can make mistakes. Consider checking important information.
Oh don’t worry, I will. Never trust AI. That’s my tip for the day.
Anyway, this is what it looks like.
It’s a chocolate egg on a crunchy hazelnut base, with some fruit, coconut mousse and rhubarb compote. The waiter pours hot miso caramel sauce over the egg, melting it. The whole edifice is presented on a base from which dry ice creates some atmosphere. So good. From my point of view, definitely not for sharing!
I’ve mentioned the hill up which we sometimes climb to reach Helen’s apartment. It’s actually located on Pine Avenue, and I tried to take a picture to show its gradient. It’s no Baldwin St, Dunedin, but it’s still quite a challenge for this old corpse.
Back to the new normal, Liesel and I caught a bus to Palm Beach. It’s a long ride, via Dee Why, Long Reef (where we visited a few days ago), Narrabeen (where we might go soon) Mona Vale and last stop, Palm Beach. It was a glorious day for a walk.
At Palm Beach, we could have walked further north to reach Barrenjoey Lighthouse, but instead, knowing we had a fairly long stretch ahead of us, we had a quick coffee at the Boathouse coffee shop attached to the local golf club. I broke the law by taking my ease here.
Well, I reckon having purchased a couple of cups of coffee, we were indeed patrons.
Our first goal was about five and a half miles to Avalon Beach. It was a lovely walk, but tough going in places.
The first real challenge was the very long staircase near the beginning. I say staircase, I can’t think what else to call a long climb, up steps, outside. How many steps? Probably over 200, but I kept losing count. Phew.
Another pair of walkers passed us a few times, at first walking north towards Palm Beach, then later on, overtaking us as we, more slowly, or should I say, more sedately, made our way south.
The lowlight of the day was bumping into and chatting with a local couple. The lady was nice, but the bloke was an out-and-out racist, who knew a lot of things that the government were keeping secret, he said, tapping his nose. I wished him a good day while inside, wishing I could block him like I do all the other right-wing nasty conspiracy theorists I come across on Twitter. Oh well.
We haven’t really tried a selfie recently. So here’s one of our first attempts, near Little Head, although having used the so-called ‘portrait effect’ on my phone, it could be anywhere really.
The views over the ocean were of course stunning. And this whole area seems to consist of nothing other than very big houses, some of which belong to or are rented by ‘celebrities’, although who these celebs are, our book refuses to say.
We saw a couple of whales today. Not real ones, of course, but this is one of our first sightings of Whale Beach over the houses and through the trees. This is the reward for walking up a long, long hill, along what passes for the main road, although there wasn’t a lot of traffic on it, thank goodness.
Another heart-sinking moment, seeing a sign that said:
WHALE BEACH IS UNDER THREAT
A developer has applied to the Land and Environment Court for a restaurant/event venue allowing up to 182 patrons and staff at 231 Whale Beach Road. It will require up to 50 additional parking spaces. This is utterly unsustainable. Don’t let it happen.
JOIN AND SUPPORT FRIENDS OF WHALE BEACH
That’s progress, I suppose. But it’s funny you never see a sign that says the local community has come together and they would like to build something big in the neighbourhood.
At the end of Whale Beach, there’s another open-air pool, and again, I probably spent far too long watching the ocean waves crashing onto the rocks behind the pool.
So where’s the other whale you said you saw, Mick?
Right here, adorning the local facilities.
Still, it was better to see Whale Beach than a beached whale, I suppose.
We enjoyed listening to various birds as we made progress, including kookaburras. I played the recording of a kookaburra that I’d made on our last visit, five years ago, loudly from my phone, several times, but nobody responded.
It was a good job that we’d chosen to do this walk today, bin day. The bins blocked the pavement in many places, meaning we had to step onto the road. And the kerbs here are much higher than those at home, providing a good work-out for the old lallies. But at least, fewer people park their cars on the pavements here.
Crunch time. We turned off the road onto a path that would take us to Careel Headland Reserve Lookout. Another long, intimidating flight of steps. Body says no. I’d fought through all my attacks of shortness of breath so far, but here, I knew I had to stop, or at the very least, have a nice long rest with food and drink, plenty of time to recuperate. I was running out of water, and of course, we didn’t bring snacks with us. I thought I was letting Liesel down, but she too was beginning to flag.
Squished on the ground, and drawing our attention to the canopy above, we were delighted by the bright colour of the berries on this tree. As usual, not 100% sure of the identity.
We walked a short way along the road, bought a snack and a drink at the petrol station, then caught the bus back the Mall. We visited a café called The Best Chocolate Cake In The World, and had coffee, avocado on toast (Liesel) and a cheese and tomato sandwich (Mick), but no chocolate cake on this occasion.
We did a big grocery shop in the big shop, Coles, and caught the bus back home, walking down the stairs, rather than up that pesky hill.
Since you ask, Liesel made very nice, very tasty artichoke galettes with asparagus for dinner tonight: we were joined by Helen but no Brent.
According to Liesel’s Fitbit, we climbed the equivalent of 28 flights of stairs, so we’re not complaining.
Mick and Liesel's Antics 