We’ve recently started to make a concerted effort to go on nice long walks again. Starting small, building up kind of thing so that by the time the sun goes away and the temperature dips below 0°J1 we can tackle the Great North Walk again. Ultimately our plan is to have walked the entire Sydney Harbour foreshore. We’ve already covered a good portion of it now we’re filling in the gaps.
Today was a 6.5km walk from Taronga Zoo to Middle Head. It was originally going to go all the way to Balmoral Beach to end with a nice swim but Roz has lately had a dodgy knee so we curtailed it by a few km.
So we got the 247 bus to Taronga Zoo. It stops, unfortunately, at the top entrance so there's a dull walk down to the Athol Wharf from where there are the usual magnificent views back to the Bridge and House. Like many of the foreshore walks there are well-trodden paths and various boardwalks dotted around so the stroll to Bradleys Head2 is easy. What's at Bradleys Head I hear you ask? Well, more views, plus the foremast the WWI cruiser HMAS Sydney plus one of the six columns from the old Sydney Post Office just sitting there next to the water begging for a statue to be put on top of it.
We didn't stay long there. Always the problem with the foreshore walks is that you can walk for ages and get a bit puffed out but when you get to a nice scenic stop you find little old ladies and people in wheelchairs and all manner of fresh-looking things in their Sunday bests looking at our red faces and sweat-stained bum cracks and thinking the worst of us. This was at the 2km mark.
Anyway, onwards we pressed through Clifton Gardens passing the backs of some annoyingly-stunning properties full of either swimming pools or tennis courts all the way round to Chowder Bay. This is ostensibly a beach beside an old military barracks. The buildings have been restored but weren't open today. Some nice restaurants are on site but we were still full of the redness of face and sweatness of bum cracks so we had our sandwiches on the sand instead.
We originally intended heading onwards to Balmoral Beach but Roz's knee was not helping. Fortunately the 244 bus leaves right from here. I left Roz and continued on the track up to Middle Head where some of the best views were to be found including a sculpture on the cliff side that surely came from Sculpture by the Sea. I caught the same bus as Roz as it made its loop around to Middle Head Road and decided not to continue to either Balmoral nor Cobblers as it would've been dusk by the time I got in the water.
I'm mapping our walks on this website for now until I find one that doesn't want my first born for access to all their good bits:
- 0 degrees John = 20 degrees Celsius – we’ve adjusted too easily to the warm temperature here such that 20°C feels freezing [↩]
- always with the missing apostrophe, Australia? [↩]
