South Narrabeen to Long Reef

What wild weather we have had this week! The heavy rain on Wednesday and Thursday was relentless and the grounds were still so sodden by Sunday. We didn’t feel like sloshing through muddy tracks so opted for a walk with pathways and roads. We basically did part of the Pub2Pub route in reverse starting from Ocean Street Narrabeen and heading south onto Pittwater Road, down to Collaroy, through the Collaroy Surf Club to the back streets of Collaroy Basin and then up to Long Reef Headland. Long Reef is such a beautiful spot - its great  to sit up the top and soak up the beauty. It was an absolutely glorious morning with no wind and very clear so we could see for miles and miles in all directions. It can get pretty wild up there when it is windy. The area was pumping with all loads of people out and about enjoying the great morning. From surfers to fishermen, paddle boarders and kayakers, golfers, runners and or course lots of walkers.

Collaroy Beach

I just love walking through the streets of Collaroy Basin – it has such a relaxed summer holiday feel to it and the houses are fabulous to gaze at. There’s the beautiful Californian bungalow style through to the classy beach houses as well as the ultra-modern boxes complete with sculptures and wave like roofs. One of the things we love about these walks is discovering all the nooks and cranny’s of our area. Today we came across the track that joins Collaroy basin to Collaroy beach. The track runs in between some houses and the beach, through a carpark at the end of Florence Ave, past a tiny reserve, up a set of stairs then around the back of the houses on the Collaroy headland, then down the grassy slope to Collaroy Beach. 

Billows at the Beach

Don’t you love it when you give something a second chance and you are rewarded with something great in return. This morning we tried Billows at the Beach at Collaroy again and we are so glad we did. Back in January (see post 22/1/12) when we tried to eat here we ended up walking away due to lack of any service at all. This time, with the owner about, we had the opposite - welcomed as soon as we arrived and sat at a table and served with a great coffee shortly afterwards. The menu was varied with breakfast wraps, rolls, pancakes, omelettes and they claim to have the best eggs benedict. We can't attest to that as we both had the omelette which was delicious - light, fluffy and full of flavour.

Our reviews
South Narrabeen to Long Reef
difficulty:                        easy
distance:                        8 km return
time taken:                    2.75 hours (including breakfast)                  
parking:                          On street (we parked on Ocean St)
worth doing:                  definitely
dog friendly:                  yes, on leash.

water and toilets available at South Narrabeen and Collaroy Surf Clubs
Billows at the Beach
food:                               great
service:                           good
ambience:                       good
would we go again:         yes