The Happy Walk - Sydney Coast Happy Walk Pt7

Day 6 Friday 9th March Manly to Avalon



I was in no rush to leave. After packing and going down to the kitchen for breakfast I reluctantly returned the book, checked out and caught the ferry back to Manly. The weather was back to perfect again so I enjoyed my wander up the coast, passing lots of quiet beaches and very expensive houses. The view from Long Reef Aquatic Reserve Lookout was superb. In my opinion it was one of the most beautiful places along the entire coast walk.



The day went by very smoothly. On one of the lookouts above Bilgola Beach I stopped for a chat with some locals showing around their international visitors. It was a pretty spot for a break but I had to keep going, it was getting late and I still a few more kilometres to go to the next backpacker's hostel.



After yesterday's experience I had called a day ahead to make sure my booking was still in the book and they had confirmed it but I was still a bit concerned as I walked up the main street of Avalon looking around for other accommodation, just in case. As it turned out they had overbooked and needed to give me my own room for the night. Sweet!



When they showed me to my room they apologetically explained the girls bathroom had been turned into a mixed bathroom because there were too many guys staying at the time. There didn't seem to be an option and the doors on the cubicles were all intact so I wasn't worried. What did cause me some anxiety was the shower window being directly below the courtyard. I could make out the shapes of people sitting above me through the frosted glass and wondered how much they could make out if they looked into the shower. Again, it wasn't anything to worry about because I didn't have an option unless I wanted to go to bed filthy and smelly.



Slowly, as the night progressed the Friday night party grew. There was a noise curfew at 11pm but by midnight I had to get up and ask them to turn down their music several times and even after that they slowly turned it back up again. There is also a no alcohol after 9pm rule inside the hostel but they were all gradually getting drunker and I could smell cannabis smoke drifting under my door. By 2am a couple of other guests had asked the party to go to bed and eventually a caretaker or someone of some authority managed to confiscate the alcohol and music and issue them all with curfew warnings. The entire hostel fell silent until 6am when the diehard surfers were up waxing their boards and heading over to the beach.