Currently Reading: Bill Dunbar – Telemachus (Pre-Publication – Draft 2, 2019)
My mother (Naida) and brother (Steve) arrived in town for my Graduation celebrations last week, and we walked up a storm over the week they were here. We were occasionally grounded due to the onset of some much needed wet weather and by the events surrounding Graduation Day itself, but we got back out there later in the week for some more miles. Following are some pics from the stretch between The Rocks and Maroubra, and between Manly and the Spit Bridge.
Arrival
The rear courtyard in our Rocks apartment
While I wait
Steve showing us why the Rocks is so named (and his appreciation for the lovely meal we’d just enjoyed)
Day One – The Rocks to Rose Bay
First morning glimpse
View back towards Opera House and Bridge from Botanical Gardens
Mrs Macquarie’s Chair – she liked this spot, so her husband built her a road. And carved her a seat out of stone. What a ledge.
Fountain at Kings Cross
Community Garden – Help Yourselves! Lettuce leaves. Endive too!
Kings Cross Flatiron
Elizabeth Bay
No Junkmail Thank You!
Rushcutters Bay
Double Bay
“Dumping of rubbish prohibited in this area” ==> Reactionary?
I can’t recall what this park was called…
… but its public loo had a fairly impressive toilet paper holder
Bonafide
Blackburn Gardens
Murray Rose Pool
Staircase to Nowhere
Ma and Bro enroute to the Rose Bay Ferry
We got back to our accommodation after having hiked a solid 15km around Sydney’s foreshore but Steve felt we hadn’t quite done enough with our day yet. So we walked across the bridge, climbed the southeast pylon and finished off our day with a mini pub crawl home.
Heading up the Argyle Stairs
And the Bridge Stairs
View of the bridge from atop the southeast pylon with its 360º views
Anzac Bridge to the left of the shot and Walsh Bay piers in foreground (home of the Sydney Theatre Company, for example, and a plethora of small cafes, restaurants and other places of business)
Stained Glass art in the upper levels of the southeast pylon
Beer number three at the Australia Hotel
Welcome to The Rocks…
Day Two – Rose Bay to Bondi
We caught the ferry back to Rose Bay on our second morning and continued where we’d left off.
Mum and Steve at the entrance to the Sydney Harbour National Park Hermitage Foreshore Walk, ready for our second leg
One of many sweet little bays along this stretch
Beautifully maintained boardwalks right along the water’s edge
Of root and rock
Further foreshore scenes
It’s amazing how much of the heart of Sydney is designated ‘national park’ and publicly accessible to all
Bridge at an ever-increasing distance
Tree love
‘The Real’ Strickland House
Watsons Bay (for delicious breakfast, followed by this lovely view)
Armour amour
Cape Hornby Lighthouse, South Head
Erected 1858
Rounding South Head and turning towards Bondi
Gap Bluff with North Head in the background
Entering the stunning clifftop reserves of the Pacific-facing eastern suburbs
This bull seems to have lost its way
Our Local: The Hero of Waterloo
Interlude
This finally happened:
Dr Who?
Dr Lou!
A more conventional pose
This is where I lecture on Mondays
A more conventional Lou pose
Ok, what’s next?
We dined at 360º – Sydney’s revolving restaurant
And returned via the Quay
The beautiful bridge at night
Argyle St – The Rocks after hours
City Ramblers
Mum with her new wheels
The star studded ceiling of the War Memorial at Hyde Park
More Opera House views
That quirky Darling Harbour architecture again
Steve awaiting the ferry at Yurulbin Park near Birchgrove Wharf
Clean windows allow for a seemingly seamless scene
Circular Quay environs starting to feel like home
Evening vista
Day Six – Bondi to Maroubra
Caught the bus to Bondi and continued south to Maroubra via all those coastal beaches – I haven’t included photographs of the Bondi to Coogee section here because I have already blogged about it in an earlier post about ‘Scultpure by the Sea’
Lush coastal scene
The path would disappear in a matter of months if you left this hedge to run rampant
Some wild water among these beautiful slabs of stone
Serene rock pool – until the next wave!
Maroubra with rubix
Maroubra surf beach
Maroubra – the southernmost point we reached on this trip
Lord Nelson – another local – tasting flights (4 beers) for $15 – don’t mind if I do!
Day Seven – Manly to Spit Bridge
For our final walk, we took the Manly Ferry from Circular Quay, then walked the 10km stretch of coastline back to the Spit Bridge.
The thoroughfare from ferry terminal to beach at Manly
Looking back toward North Harbour Reserve
40 Baskets Beach
Lone Fisherman
The stunning rainbow lorikeet – not bothered by our humanness at all
Poor picture quality on the phone’s zoom, but check out those colours
Hence the name
Reef Bay – there are some neat little shacks right down on the water’s edge – you wouldn’t be allowed to build those now but it would be pretty fantastic having that kind of a weekender…
Mum and Steve with grass tree
Fish Petroglyphs – Aboriginal stone art at Grotto Point
Dead trees kissing
Sometimes these paths are carved and woven into the rock itself
Mother and brother making tracks
More tree love – such stunners
Lush natural forest
Final stretch before the Spit Bridge
In other, very exciting news, I am returning to van life. I have work lined up at the Peach Farm near Ulladulla again this summer, then I am taking next year off teaching to work on my publications, and to travel around Australia while I write. My brother, Steve (pictured above) is returning to Sydney next week and with his help, I am going to sell my current car and buy a van. Four more weeks of teaching commitments then I will be a free agent with a van. Woo!
Books Completed: Jeffrey Eugenides – The Marriage Plot
