Well the air quality improved today – not clear but distinctly better than yesterday. At least breathing appeared to be a possibility!

Took the bus to Circular Quay and then the ferry to Manly. This is a resort at the end of the harbour with beaches on the seaside. I walked around the harbour and up to the point. Chatted to a toddler about lions and high fives, to a British lady about fires and the volcano in New Zealand and then to an Australian lady about travel on the way back. Not a very exciting day but it was nice to breath some relatively fresh air.

This is the seawater swimming pool.

There have been lots of groups of kids on various beaches doing swimming, running and other outdoor-type things. This lot are doing surf lifesaving.

This is the restaurant I had lunch in. Very cool and trendy.

interesting fact for today. From the 1830s to the early 1900s, it was illegal to swim during daylight hours on any beach around Sydney that was incorporated into a town. Bizarre – apparently they reckoned it outraged public decency as there was no such thing as a bathing costume.