Special Days in Sydney: Sun, Surf, and Sails at Manly

Manly Beach, Sydney

In ninety-six hours, Clive and I will be in the air over Sydney, on our way to Paris.

We’re spending these last precious days at Manly, where we first met for coffee on 10 September 2005 and where, just up the hill from this beach, we bought an apartment together less than three months later.

Manly is unique among Sydney’s dazzling array of beaches: at Manly, you can experience both ocean and Harbour beaches. And they’re only a few minutes’ walk from each other.

Manly ferries amidst the yachts, Sydney Harbour

In this stunning city that captured my heart from the moment I arrived in 1995 (years before, actually, if you count dreams and file folders filled with travel articles), we’ve experienced four major life events in the past three months.

First, we’ve officially begun our new adventure. We’ve sold the apartment we loved so much (a necessary step on the path of our dream); it sold quickly, to our delight, and the settlement (closing) was on 27 October.

Second, in the midst of our overseas move transition, my father died in the U.S. on 28 October. I travelled to New Jersey twice to be with him in his last weeks of life, thanks to Clive who encouraged me and in truly herculean fashion, handled virtually all the tasks involved in packing, organising movers, and managing a million and one to-do’s that must be dealt with in this kind of move.

Our third event was the joyful birth of Ebonie, the first baby girl in many years on all sides of the family. We spent the past week in an activity-filled time with Ebonie, her brothers, and her parents on the New South Wales Central Coast. The roller-coaster of emotions we call life – grief over death, joy over birth – continues.

Now we’re back in Manly, our Sydney home. Our last, but certainly not least, event is soon to come.  We’re hoping the sunshine of the past few days, as shown in these Manly Beach photos, continues.

My son is now on the final leg of his journey to Sydney — having worked his way across the U.S., he’s now somewhere above the Pacific – to join us for three days. Clive’s daughter will be with us as well, as will Clive’s son and his family, including little Ebonie. We’ll all gather at the home of our dear friends and former next-door neighbours.

Why? Because on Sunday, at 5 p.m., with our children giving us away, Clive and I are getting married.

Manly Beach, Sydney

More to come.