The Manly Trap

I’ll apologise now. This post has an awful lot of photographs. You see, The Manly Trap was sprung and it had well and truly caught me.

Continuing on from the last post, I was feeling pretty low. I didn’t know what to do next. ‘Pretty low’ might be an understatement. I missed my friends from home hugely and wondered if the greatest adventure of my life was just really a big mistake?

Trying to keep positive, I figured I wasn’t completely comfortable in the middle of Sydney and began to formulate a plan. What I needed was some blue juice. So … I’d head out to Manly for a couple of weeks, surf a bit and figure out what to do next. But what actually happened next was that I’d end up staying in Manly for nearly 3 months and only leave when I ran out of money!

I’d had lunch with a friend (Jar-Marie) who I’d come to know as she’d been living in England with her ex-boyfriend (one of my best friends) for the previous year. She was local to Manly and recommended I check out a backpackers hostel as a good place to crash – The Boardriders Backpackers. So, I packed my bags and found a bed. I thought maybe I’d stay a few weeks, find a room in a house, get a part time job, stay until New Year and then head up the coast.

I found a small community of people though in the hostel … travellers who’d stepped off the plane in Sydney, headed over the water and had reached the same place I did and never left. We called it “The Manly Trap”.

Manly is a beautiful little town about a 30 minute ferry ride from Sydney CBD. It has bars, shops, restaurants, a good surfing beach and an abundance of coastal walks and smaller beaches close by. It’s a party town, a holiday destination and perfect for the 20 somethings looking for fun.

Over the days, weeks and months I gradually grew into the group. Some people left of course and new people joined, but a core crew of us always remained and we formed a close knit relationship. The photos displayed will give you a small idea, but it was a hugely fun time for me. Days were spent surfing, hiking or simply relaxing on the beach and nights were spent watching movies or heading out to the bars on our infamous party nights. Any thought of work flew out of the window.

When I eventually (and inevitably) ran out of money I figured I couldn’t stay any longer. If I wasn’t careful, I’d never leave (unless it was to return home to England, tail between my legs). One day in early February I packed my bags to head north to Brisbane. A new city and new challenge was needed. I didn’t find it easy though … saying goodbye to my new family and friends to once again head out alone was sad. I was better prepared for the future though and felt far more capable.

In late October 2008, at the end of my time, I flew back into Sydney from Alice Springs. I decided there was only one place I could spend my last days in the country and that was back at the Boardriders. Although I was glad to be there again, it was different. A few good friends remained; Rich, Danny, Mel and Mike … they had never left and I wondered if they’d ever wanted to? It wasn’t the same for me however – my time had passed.

Whilst there I slowly became aware of the new community at the hostel – different faces, but the same characters doing the same things that we’d all been doing 12 months previously. I recognised the friendships and dynamics on show and I wondered… you see…I knew now what was happening. The Manly Trap had sprung; would any of them ever escape?

*The Sleazeriders will ride forever*