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Published: February 19th 2013
One of the great things about living in a new city, and one as big as Sydney, is that every weekend I can visit somewhere new and enjoy a new adventure or experience. At times even just supermarket shopping can offer a different experience - cue the time I got excited and bought kangaroo steak for dinner! Day tripping around the city and beyond helps keep alive the dream that living in Australia is one big holiday. Clearly I'm delusional.....but bring it on I reckon. I've had some fantastic discoveries, whether near or far.
Recently I took a day trip to the Royal National Park. I'd bought a one day tour with
Understand Down Under (UDU) Tours through a voucher site, so I was a local joining the real tourists - or so I thought. Turns out there were some other locals with the same idea, so joining me were two Australian couples, as well as a couple from Slovakia living in Sydney, and the only "true" tourists being a mother and son from Canada for a two week holiday. They were a great bunch. My favourite couple were Bill and Johanna from Woollongong, who had been married for nearly 50 years and
still held hands like young honeymooners. Bill asked everyone where they were from, and replied with a cheery "I've been there!" at every response. I said it sounded like they had done a lot of travelling, and he replied, "Yes, sure have. Adventure before dementia!" Definitely my kind of people.... who can argue with that?
The Royal National Park is the second oldest in the world, opening in 1879 just after Yellowstone. It's only an hour's drive from Sydney so very accessible, and jam packed with gorgeous beaches and beautiful walks. We didn't do as much walking as I'd have liked, but that's because the weather couldn't decide what to do. We successfully dodged nearly all of the showers and still squeezed in a short bush walk and some beach time as well. Our first stop was at Bald Hill, which has some of the most beautiful views of the coast line I've seen. It's also the jumping off point - quite literally - for dozens of hang-gliders and para-ponters. It looked absolutely glorious, but no way in hell would I be trying it.
In between showers we visited Garie Beach, a stunningly beautiful surf beach with next
to no one there. We also visited Wattamolla, a beautiful sheltered little bay obviously popular with families. Our guide for the day, Garry, told us lots of stories about early explorations in Australia. One of the stories I found most fascinating was set right here, and involved an incredible story of either bravery or stupidity - I'm not sure which. According to the story, in 1796 Matthew Flinders set off from Sydney in a 14 foot open boat (ie a glorified dinghy) to circumnavigate and chart Australia, which at that point had not been done. He took with him George Bass and a boy, William Martin, and whatever equipment you need to do the charting, some water and food supplies, and curiously, a cat. A terrible storm rolled in and they lost most of their supplies, and the rocky coast line offered no shelter whatsover. Then Matthew Flinders managed to spy the bay at Wattamolla and they sheltered behind a rock and managed to survive the storm. The lookout point we walked to was called Providential Point, which was named due to the good providence of surviving the storm. Now whether or not this story is entirely true or embellished
by Garry, who knows, however I am still amazed that they set off in a small open boat with no shelter at all, but a cat! Admittedly they had absolutely no idea at that time how big Australia was, but still, a cat?
Our day trip also gave us the opportunity to learn a little bit more about the indigenous culture, and we all had a turn at throwing a boomerang and a woomera (spear). The boomerang was much harder than it looks and if we were to rely on my hunting skills with a boomerang, or anyone else's for that matter, we'd have gone pretty hungry. Wisely Garry had brought along some things for a bbq so we were spared. We finished off the day at Audley, where there is a man-made lake created by early English settlers to provide a little patch of Richmond for weekend boating. A very pretty little spot.
I've been wearing out my shoes with lots of walking adventures. The fabulous Sydney coastline is right on our doorsteps, and walkways and paths have been created to make it even more accessible. Having walked from Spit bridge to Manly in early January, the
other most well-known walk is from Coogee to Bondi beach. It can get very busy on a hot summer's day, so I was up very early one weekend to see how it's changed since the last time I walked it, 15 years ago. An easy 5km walk, it's really stunning, and at that time of day filled with runners and walkers. What a great way to start the day though, and I finished in a cafe in Bondi overlooking the water.
On other days I've not even had to travel far from home to discover a new neighbourhood. It's only 30 minutes or so to Double Bay, but it's a different world altogether from Kings Cross. For starters everything seemed to be twice the normal going rate. The walk from my house to Double Bay is an easy one, taking me through Rushcutters Bay, which is a gorgeous spot to sit and watch the world (well mainly boats) go by. Another day I took the bus up to Watson's Bay, which is where the famous Doyle's seafood restaurant is, and The Gap, quite a spectacular spot on top of the cliffs and looking straight out to the Tasman Sea.
It wasn't a very warm day, so I didn't visit the nude beach at Lady's Bay. Good to know it's there for the next hot day though.
With lots more unexplored beaches, walkways, and suburbs yet to be discovered for me, I think that some new shoes might soon be in order!
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Dancing Dave
David Hooper
BRINGS BACK MEMORIES
I used to go camping in the Royal National Park in my youth...the headland northern end of Burning Palms...walk from Otford railway Station...down the cliff...magic spot...beach both sides. You'll have to come for a walk near our place in Sydney's north Rachael...see how fit you are!