Walk no. 11 - Manly to Spit Bridge: 20 July 2012

Bavarian bears wear interesting shorts!

Another 'guest' walker today - this time Suzi joined me in one of her favourite walks around Sydney, the harbour walk between Manly and Spit Bridge.

Tide was out so we were able to rock and sand hop along the beach
and not follow the dog route.

North and South head and strangely, the Manly
Catamaran is running

Our walk got off to a slow start - first the 'really regular' bus from Darlinghurst to Circular Quay took ages to arrive, then heavy traffic meant that walking to CQ just might have been faster, and once at the ticket office, we were told that the Manly ferry wasn't running because there was a power outage! So we immediately jumped on one of the special buses and did a 'no stops' ride to Manly (still not sure what the man who only wanted to go 'two stops' thought of it - the bus didn't stop til it reached Manly).
Once at Manly we 'needed' a 'pre-walk' coffee and cake, but the Bavarian Bear restaurant on the wharf (see first photo) also had no electricity. What was weird was how come the Catamaran was running?
We did eat at a dodgy cafe near the aquarium, won't be recommending that place to anyone, but it did have electricity.
And finally we were on our way.
The walk was great, up and down, pretty well signposted, and stunning views at almost every turn.

I love this photo looking towards the 'neck' of Manly with the ocean behind

Almost half way on our 7km walk.

What else, a kookaburra. I just love these birds.

Suzi on her way to the beach

Seagull sunning itself on the beach

Doggies on the beach

Somewhere around Clontarf we found a 'doggie' beach - it kept Suzi happy! A couple of dog walkers had about 8 dogs between them and the dogs were having a ball. Really easy to pick their personalities (with regards how much they like/don't like to run) by watching their 'ball chasing' skills. Needless to say, when you are with a doggie person, you will spend a goodly amount of time watching dogs! These two big dogs were gorgeous though.

Crossing the Spit Bridge, we were assured by the bridge controllers that it was safe to cross even though the 'red man' was flashing. They were right, the bridge didn't open while we were crossing, but did very soon after. I think its just a game they play, to see if they can catch pedestrians who dilly dally while crossing!

Finished our walk with a huge fish and chips meal (we think well deserved!) and an added interest in kayaking around the harbour.
The walk was great, and of course we managed to talk non-stop the whole way!

Walk no. 10: Curl Curl to Manly - hooray - a milestone!

Walk no. 10. 

Today, with my constant companion Ryan, we walked from Curl Curl to Manly, (not quite to to North Head - can only 'encourage' Ryan for so long before we reach the 'are we there yet' part of the walk), and so have finished the last of the coastal section of the walk for a while. Now we'll turn inland and walk along harbour paths until we reach South Head, many, many kilometres away......

I took a photo of Ryan at the start of the walk
so I would know what street to return to to
find the car............

The sea pool at the southern end of Curl Curl beach.

Surfers at Curl Curl Beach

Same surfers, further along the wave - what a gorgeous day!

Ryan on the boardwalk

 As we walked further south, we found a lovely board walk that hugged the cliff - and meant that I could see Ryan in the distance (unlike the last walk where I lost him in the bush).
As we rounded the point towards Freshwater, there were lots of rock fishermen/women trying to catch dinner. I didn't clamber down to check their catches, but was envious.

Rock fishers at Freshwater, North Head in the far distance.

Romance by the sea

Freshwater

Sewage outlets at Freshwater (?) - now what is wrong with that sentence??

 Just for fun I took this series of photos while we walked along Freshwater - hope you like them.....and no, I'm not stalking him, just trying to keep up!

This is such a Ryan look....

Chilling at Freshwater

Do the right thing in Manly

Manly beach (left), and North Steyne beach (right)

Is this the way to the gelato shop??

Things special about this walk: once again, Curl Curl has it's own sea pool - I think that every single beach I've passed through on this Blog Walk has had it's own sea pool - how lucky; Freshwater is as lovely a beach as I remember it when I used to take the boys when they were little; Manly is a stunning beach and whenever I see Norfolk Island Pines I think of Manly; managed to get off at the correct bus stop; love the beachy feel of Manly.

We walked to the Ferry Terminal, caught our bus back to the car, and next time, I'll be starting at the Ferry Terminal and enjoying harbour views for quite a few kilometres.

Walk no. 9: Dee Why Beach to Dee Why Head: 4 March 2012

Jenny at Headland Park, at the southern end of Dee Why Beach

After all the sand and surf of the last walk, this walk was a 'cliff topper' - suited Ryan fine - no sand in his crocs, no sun beating down relentlessly (in his opinion), and lots of steps to speed up and down - not so good for me.

We started at the south end of Dee Why beach and pretty much walked the cliff top from there to Dee Why Head. Photos above show how steep and close to the cliff edge we were, and photos below show how far down it was.......
Of course, it didn't faze Ryan.

Discovered that it's not a good idea to let Ryan out of my sight when travelling through trees, I looked away, (well, took a photo), looked back and he was gone, assumed that he'd taken off ahead of me so I took off in pursuit - a long.............. 10 to 15 minutes later, I HEARD Ryan calling from where I'd last left him (stupid me) (and thanks goodness he has such a good set of lungs!). His response, once he/we'd calmed down was to tell me that I should bring other people walking with me, not him (and managed to make me feel pretty irresponsible!)

Ryan at yet another sea pool, this one is just south of Dee Why Head (and I think that that's Manley in the background)

After that we had a peaceful walk back to the bus stop along Curl Curl Lagoon, and managed to find an ice-cream shop along to way to calm our nerves.


What I learned from this walk?? I should put a tracking device in Ryan's bag!

No. 8 of my big beach walk: Narrabeen to South Dee Why Beach: 11 Jan 2012

Mei and me still looking fresh and a bit windblown at the start of the walk.

I had a 'guest walker' today, my sister-in-law Mei. She's the one with the big hair! We had a great walk from the southern end of Narrabeen beach, ploughing along though the sandy beaches, only hitting rocky paths half way along. Mei had worn walking shoes in preparation for cliff top walking, but we only got a little of that once we reached Long Reef Point.

Seagulls enjoying the sun and at the wind, looking south towards Long Reef Point

We discovered Long Reef Point, Long Reef Golf Club as well as the golf coffee stop.
Below is a selection of piccies from around Long Reef Point.

Mei at the Long Reef mobile coffee shop

Long Reef Golf Course

Decorations and info around Long Reef Point

Mei on the steps to Long Reef Point

Further south, Long Reef beach is separated from Dee Why Beach by Dee Why Lagoon. Getting from one beach to the next involved getting our feet (and our bums) wet! Luckily we didn't have to swim, fortunately Mei was up for a wade, wet shorts and all!

Jenny testing the waters of the outlet - it got deeper and the current stronger, but the little kids on their floaties managed to cross, so we had to too.

Then it was on to our lunch stop - fish and chips of course - a walk past the obligatory sea pool - well used on this gorgeous sunny day, and home.
Highlights: it was great walking with Mei on such a gorgeous day, she was up for anything, never ever asking 'are we there yet'; we managed to both talk non stop the whole way as well as doing the longest walk so far, who knows how long but it looks pretty long on my map; and does anyone know what this rusty pole on Dee Why Beach is for (please don't say sewage outlet!!).

No. 7 of my/our Big Walk, Warriewood Beach to almost Collaroy, 9 Oct 2011

And only one week since we last walked, Ryan and I are off again, probably encouraged by the really nice little coffee shop at Narrabeen Park at the end of last week's walk - great fish and chips that sustained Sebastian for the drive home!

Me at the start of Walk no. 7, in much warmer clothes
than last week.

A extremely comprehensive list of many of the dangers
we might meet along the way, and not one
involves sharks!

After reading the long list of dangers of Turimetta Head, we forged ahead regardless, encountering wild flowers, bush and stunning views, both north towards Mona Vale Headland and south to Narrabeen Head and further on to Manly.

Then we came across this gorgeous little secluded, rocky beach, Turrimetta Beach, and managed to get these great photos of one young surfer. His mate jumped off the rocks into the waves, this guy just couldn't do it, but enjoyed the thrill of the waves anyway, without surfboard.

Misses jumping in with his mate

Pondering what to do next

Gets the wave anyway

Then it was a short climb over Narrabeen Head and on to the Narrabeen Peninsula, surf on one side and lovely calm lakes on the other, but we didn't get to see the surf because Ryan refused to walk on any more sand, and so we strolled along Ocean Street, the name of the streets that are always one back from the beach (should be renamed No Ocean View or No Ocean Breeze Street!)

Narrabeen Beach, view to Manly (I think) and the lakes behind.

Ryan finds yet another Combi, they are alive and well
on the northern beaches....

Whistling Percy came along too, not yet ready to come
out of his packaging

What was special about today, well, that great photo of the surfer 'catching' his wave, being reminded of how lovely the Narrabeen Lakes are and what a different feel it is to be on a lake rather than the surf, and after all the headlands we've crossed to finally get to the longest stretch of sand on the Northern Beaches, from Narrabeen to Collaroy Beach. And that it wasn't as freezing cold as last week's walk. And that finally I have finished the walk from Barrenjoey to Narrabeen Lakes, the first walk in the set of 5 coastal maps, the next one covers Narrabeen to Manly Lagoon.

Monument to surfing at Narrabeen Beach