The Manly Ferry Saga

We have previously expressed on the blog our love of the Manly Ferry, and mourned the withdrawal of the traditional ferries for something that feels altogether more lightweight.

The old Freshwater class ferry 'Queenscliff', photographed on a previous trip to Australia 

The new catamaran ferries were introduced in 2021 and proved controversial, being smaller, less able to cope with the large waves that sometimes enter Sydney harbour, and unable to dock at it's traditional wharf at very low tides. The advantage is that a trip on the new ferries is 10 minutes faster, but as there was already a fast ferry alternative and for many people the journey was the reason they were there, this seemed irrelevant.

The new Emerald 2 class Manly Ferry 'Clontarf'

The good news is that we were not the only ones to mourn, and on our recent trip to Australia we saw one of the old ferries back in service.

It now appears that the plan is to reintroduce three of the old ferries after they have been re-engined, and put the new ferries on less punishing routes.

Everything old is new again: the Freshwater class 'Collaroy'