Trying to get the G.O. to celebrate his birthday is like trying to prise a stubborn crab out of its hidey-hole. Unsurprising as he is born under the Cancerian astrological sign. For the first time ever I managed to persuade him to ditch work on a weekday birthday. Coercion that involved me using a precious annual leave day and suggesting he wouldn’t want me to celebrate his birthday on my own. It worked. Just. My backup tactic was to suggest if he didn’t stay home with me, I’d go to work with him.
As work commitments prevented us taking a long weekend away the G.O.’s celebration of choice was a coastal escape within the city environs.
After a sleep-in, leisurely coffees and gift unwrapping in bed we followed the route of my usual morning commute to Circular Quay, even making a dash to the cafe in my building for a soy chai latte & hot chocolate before joining Tuesday tourists and day-trippers on a ferry ride across Sydney Harbour to Watsons Bay, a 17 minute trip as opposed to the other public transport option of bus that takes near an hour to cover the 11 km distance.
“Watsons Bay is located on the southern head of the entrance to Sydney Harbour. To the east is the Tasman Sea and to the west is the Harbour with a glorious view of the city of Sydney in the distance.
Watsons Bay is where Governor Phillip first landed in Australia. It’s also recognised as Australia’s oldest fishing village, having been established in 1788.
The Bay is famous for being the home of the first Doyles Restaurant. The site on which the restaurant now stands is where Doyle originally sold his daily fish catch in 1845. It’s well worth the trip to Watsons Bay to eat at the restaurant or, alternatively, for a more informal meal, buy a take-away lunch from Doyles’ fish and chip outlet, located on the wharf, and eat it in the park and feed the seagulls.
There are two walking paths from the wharf, both require around one hour for the round trip. From the wharf you can walk north past Lady Bay (see their nude beach) and on to South Head…”
And we did just that, walked around to the north looking across to Manly, didn’t see any nudists although the day was a pleasant and sunny 20 degrees Celsius (winter in Sydney at its best!), enjoyed a simple fish and chip lunch accompanied by attentive seagulls, postprandial strolled until the sun enticed us to a garden bench with a harbour view before a speedy afternoon return on the ferry to Circular Quay.
Despite widely being attributed to him, Sherlock Holmes never said those words “Elementary, my dear Watson” but no doubt he would have by way of approbation of the G.O.’s excellent choice of destination of the same name.
Note: Australia’s place names have lost their apostrophes.
daleleelife101.blog 
Happy Birthday Gorgeous One! So glad to hear you both had such a fabulous day! And I didn’t know apostrophes were now out of place names, thanks for that info. But I have to admit, I clicked on this post in the hopes of seeing sausages and bacon sauce – were they dinner in the end? 😉
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Thank you 🙂 You’ll see sausages and bacon in my upcoming IMK post!
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Happy belated birthday, G.O.! I envy you; I ate fish & chips at Watsons Bay on my first ever visit to Australia many years ago, and I agree, it’s a special place.
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Thank you. Last time we went was a few years ago, first time ever for me. I love that even though it’s in the city/eastern suburbs it feels like an escape, the air is so clean.
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I know how you feel – the Bear is also shockingly difficult when it comes to birthdays. Not sure why – definitely not his astrology, that’s for sure! As for getting him to give up a day’s work! Dreaming :). I love your birthday idea for the GO though – I love Sydney, and you made me miss it all over again. I haven’t been down for a couple of years, more’s the pity.
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For the G.O. it’s family influence I think. A couple of years ago we had a small birthday party for my MiL and a beautiful cake for her 80th. She was quite overwhelmed because she’d never had a birthday party. Neither has the G.O. and nor does he want one, he says. Birthdays in my family were modest but not that much.
Sydney is so easy to love, especially on a sunny day when by rights you should be at work 🙂
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Oh well, that’s it then. Never a birthday party at 80!
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Happy Birthday GO , it sounds like a delightful day .
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Thank you. I hope you’re having a wonderful time in Paris 🙂
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I’m quite sure by the time you finished your day the G.O. was delighted he’d taken the day off and that you’d persuaded him to. That’s a great birthday by anyone’s standartds.
xxx Huge Hugs xxx
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Thank you. You’re right, he was happy, from the minute he woke up and didn’t have to go to work. Lucky for him he’s got a good missus 😉
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A gem.
xxx Huge Hugs xxx
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Would have been my idea of a perfect way to spend my birthday too! Best wishes to the GO and his lovely wife!
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Thank you. The weather was kind. It was the best day we’d had for weeks. We had plan B but not as nice as being out and about.
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I’ve only been to Sydney once, and that was 40 years ago, so I had no idea what or where Watsons Bay was…but wow! Those photos are superb. Please wish the G.O. a Happy Birthday 🙂
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Thank you. One of the great thing about our cities is there is so much to do on their doorsteps. We’re very fortunate.
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Yes we are. 🙂
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A big Happy Birthday to the G.O.! There’s nothing better than eating fish and chips at the beach. Well done 😀
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Thank you. I offered the pub or the fancy Doyles but he wanted his fish and chips in the park. And it was just lovely. That’s the bonus of birthdays for the other party!
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This is such a beautiful place. And the seafood–it looks so amazing! What a perfect way to celebrate a birthday!
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Sunshine and seafood, we couldn’t have asked for more. We thought the day would fly but it went at a lovely leisurely pace, and we enjoyed the time out.
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I spent a week in Sydney on business about 10 years ago and took a day trip over to Watsons Bay during some down time. The nude beach took me by surprise. 🙂 But what a beautiful place. It was the first time I’d ever seen parrots in the wild. Glad y’all go to enjoy a nice day together. 🙂
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The nude beach would take me by surprise also! It’s not something I’ve ever been accustomed to. The walk around the headland is lovely.
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Lovely birthday day out! Happy Birthday to the GO.Watson Bay onto my bucket list. Love the shots with Sydney on the horizon.
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Thank you. Excellent inclusion. Watson’s Bay is so inexpensive and simple to get to from the Quay… and even better enjoyed at a leisurely weekday pace rather than the weekend.
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Sounds like a great day, Ella
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Thank you, it was… and as my birthday is at the end of the year, nice for a mid-year celebration 🙂
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Couldn’t pick a better location for a celebration. There’s always something nice about a ferry ride to another spot. The water, the breezes, the birds all help shift gears. It does look perfectly wonderful there in Watson’s Bay area
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Thank you. It was an easy day, and we felt so far away even though we weren’t.
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It’s the ferry and the sea gulls. They lift you far away. Enjoy the weekend!
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Beautiful pics. Very enticing. Except for the oysters bleeargh. Well done for organising such a lovely day.
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Thank you. Not much organizing except birthday gifts… I just tagged along! The weather certainly helped out with photos and enticing. I love people who don’t like oysters… more for me!
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Really nice. Love seeing the scenic photos. Also liked your bday tactic for the GO. So glad you talked him into such a lovely day. Happy Birthday Gorgeous One. 😀
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Thank you. We had a lovely day, and while bemused initially in the end he was pleased I was so insistent 🙂
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As soon as I read Watsons Bay, I thought ‘Doyles’. Lovely photos, bring back the memories. I’m reading a book about Sydney at the moment, must write about it later. Glad he had a good day, coincidentally, this is the first year in ages that Partner has worked on The Birthdays.
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Doyle’s and Watsons Bay do seem synonymous. Certainly fish and chips was on our agenda! In a perfect world birthdays would be holidays I think but sometimes needs must, and we make the best of it. Best of all for us was slipping off on a work day. Made it even nicer 🙂
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