We had Dave Segal from UC Davis staying with us for a couple of weeks in March – to brainstorm on zinc finger related work, and so as part of the plan of showing him the best of Sydney (having taken him on a day walk in the Blue Mountains the previous week), we devised a harbour walk that involved first catching a ferry to Musgrave St in Mosman, then walking around the harbour’s edge to Balmoral. From there, having cunningly judged the tides, we walked around the rocks to The Spit (only straightforward at low tide plus or minus an hour or two – just ask Gareth and Dale!) and then finished off with the Spit to Manly walk. At Manly, we were able to sample a bit of snorkeling (minus the snorkels) at Shelly Beach, before heading back to the city on the ferry.

At that point, I threw in the extra cunning surprise part of the trip – a ferry to Cockatoo Island and an hour of walking around there looking at the penal colony and old shipyard – quite interesting…

Weather was perfect, and a great day was had by all…