Kangaroo Valley

One of my favourite getaway destinations close to Sydney is Kangaroo Valley. I love the stunning landsacpes - the rolling green plains and the rugged mountain escarpments. Over the Australia Day long weekend my family and I were lucky enough to spend a few days there with some friends. We stayed in a gorgeous cottage on a property in Upper Kangaroo Valley that has the beautiful Kangaroo River running through it. This is the perfect spot to unwind and spend some quality time together. Even better is that there's no TV or internet connection; so its all old fashioned fun and games for all.

Kangaroo Valley is great for walking and today we set out for a walk from our cottage to Flat Rock along Upper River Road. The gravel road winds through the forest and takes us past a few properties. You can hear the babbling water of the river down below the road and the sounds of birds in the trees. Flat Rock is a popular swimming and picnic area so there is the odd car or two that passes us (I hope they found their kids!). The weather here was a little better than Sydney but still quite wet, so there were only a few others here today. Flat Rock is also the launch area for our kids river adventure. They get on their li-lo's and off they go floating and rafting down the river. There's lots of thrill and spills as they go though the mini rapids, at times clambering over the rocks and of course bumping into each other. It a great adventure and yes there is usually a cut or two to tend to afterwards.

 Kangaroo River adventure

One of the great things about Kangaroo Valley is that once you are out of town there is not much around besides a few other properties; it's sublime - so peaceful and traquil! Though this does mean that there are no cafes around so I did have to do my own cook up when we returned from the walk.

Our reviews
Upper River Road Kangaroo Valley

difficulty:                   easy

distance:                    Approx 14km from turnoff on Kangaroo Valley Road. 4km return from our   cottage. Can choose your distance and start anywhere along Road.

parking:                      roadside

worth doing                yes

dog friendly:               yes but watch for cars

Long Reef to Dee Why Lagoon and back to Collaroy





Entrance to walking track

Sometimes you just have one of those days where things don’t go according to plan and so it was this Sunday. With heavy rain on Saturday, we weren’t sure if we were going to be able to walk the next day but the rain held off and we decided to drive to Long Reef and walk to Dee Why for breakfast. Parking in Anzac Avenue (this was the only thing that went to plan), we headed up alongside the golf course to Long Reef Point. The view at the top of Long Reef headland is quite magnificent although it was extremely windy so we didn’t linger too long at the top. Taking the track south towards Dee Why, we enjoyed the magnificent beach views and several times the sun came out, despite threatening black clouds overhead (not to mention the wind again).

This walk is full of variety as you can walk through bush and on a track and parts of it are also on the beach. We noticed that people aren’t so friendly at this end of the northern beaches, there were plenty of walkers and runners but despite our cheery hello, a lot of them just ignored us.  Having said that as we approached Dee Why Lagoon a nice lady stopped us to let us know that we couldn’t cross, as the tide was too high. When the tide is high the lagoon joins the sea making it impossible to cross.  She had left her car in Dee Why the night before as she had drunk too much and had walked back Sunday morning with her husband and dog to pick it up, but wasn’t able to get to it.  We did go and check and sure enough it would have been quite difficult to get across without swimming.  As it was still windy and getting a bit chilly, we didn’t fancy continuing our walk with wet clothes so decided to head back north to Collaroy.



Collaroy Rockpool

 Once at Collaroy we decided to have breakfast at Taste 2 Deli, however, it was absolutely packed, so we very quickly moved onto Billows. Having both had dinner there before, we knew the service and food was good.  This was not to be this time.  After greeting some friends inside, we sat down and waited to be acknowledged.  This didn’t happen but by this time we had decided to move outside so we relocated and again sat down and waited to be acknowledged.  Unfortunately that still didn’t happen so Shaz went inside and helped herself to the menus.  Despite this, they still continued to ignore us, even though they only had two other tables to wait on, so we left.  We were quite bemused that they never once acknowledged us or even seemed to notice we were leaving. Our friend told us that the owner turned up just after this and service improved, so perhaps the young staff were just inexperienced and needed some supervision.

 



Jude's breakfast

 

Heading north again, we stopped at Reef Café and were seated quickly with a menu in front of us.  The menu had the usual brekkie options and Jude opted for an omelette with sausage, cheese and spinach and sourdough bread. Shaz had a pan fried corn cake with bacon , avocado, rocket and a tomato salsa. Jude was somewhat disappointed because she thought the sausage was chorizo but unfortunately it was a plain sausage.    To be fair the menu hadn’t mentioned chorizo but that seems to be standard these days for breakfast sausage.  The service was friendly and quick and the coffees came out at just the right time.  Unfortunately just a bit too much chocolate sprinkled on the top overpowered the coffee somewhat and was a bit messy on the cup. 



Shaz's breakfast

 Even though we had ended up walking approximately 5km in total we did feel somewhat cheated that we didn’t reach our destination and have the choice of all those great cafes on Dee Why Beach.  The rain did set in again later so we were lucky that it held off while we were on our walk. Better luck next week!

Our reviews

 Long Reef to Dee Why (didn’t quite make it so went back south to Collaroy)

difficulty:                   easy to moderate

distance:                    5km from long reef to dee why lagoon back to collaroy

parking:                     on street parking and council parking with Warringah stickers

                                    at entrance to headland 

worth doing               yes (if the tide is not too high)

dog friendly:               Leashed dogs only on the tracks -  not allowed on the beach

Water  - a bubbler is available at the top of Long Reef headland

Reef Cafe

food:                           adequate

service:                       good

ambience:                  okay

would we go again:   maybe





Mona Vale to North Narrabeen

Warriewood Headland looking over Warriewood beach

One of our favourite walks has to be from South Mona Vale headland (Robert Dunn Reserve) and today, we headed south towards Narrabeen. One of the beauties of this walk is that you can go on a marked path across the clifftops with views of the sea and coastline to your left, while still walking through the bush and enjoying the flora and fauna. We walked south along Narrabeen Park Parade and headed down the steps to Warriewood Beach to the start of the track. The track goes up to Warriewood headland then past Turimetta Beach, then around to the infamous Narrabeen steps at North Narrabeen beach. The track ends here so we joined the road and headed up over the bridge to our breakfast stop at Lifesaver Café opposite the North Narrabeen beach carpark. About 100 metres before the steps there is a great lookout over the entrance to Narrabeen Lagoon.

the entrance to Narrabeen lagoon

This walk is always a busy thoroughfare with runners and walkers old and young some with children and some with dogs but if you go early, it is not too busy. It is also a very social walk and everybody greets you with a happy smile and a g’day.

After breakfast we headed back to Mona Vale retracing our steps with a detour down to the North Narrabeen rock pool to check out the activity. Being a Sunday there was quite a few people about and Nippers were going full steam at the Northern end of the beach and in the lagoon. So back we headed up the Narrabeen steps and onto the track northwards. Those steps are a beauty….probably 60 steps in all and they really make you feel like you have done some work. If you are keen why not do a couple of sets …or try to run a few laps….I know it’s a favourite with many of the local fitness trainers.

We usually see at least one memorable sight on our walk. Today it was a seemingly abandoned esky at the top of Narrabeen steps with a half full bottle of coke along side it……..just when we thought we would have to toss a coin to decide who was going to take the esky home we found the esky’s owners…….down the bottom of the stairs asleep on the newly constructed council benches. All rugged up in their sleeping bags with rucksacks at their sides, 2 maybe 3 youths..…couldn’t quite tell……it was just a mound of bodies and sleeping bags…..Anyway, now I wish I had a photo to show you and ask if any of you recognised your son?

Lifesaver Café

Shaz's small breakfast bruschetta

The breakfast menu is fairly basic with the usual brekkie standards of a variety of bacon with eggs and hash browns and vegetarian options of mushrooms, eggs and avocado. Shaz’s meal of avocado, omelette and tomato on toast with balsamic glaze was lovely but the small serving was a surprise. Jude chose the vegetarian meal with scrambled eggs, mushrooms and roast vegies on sourdough. It was delicious and the serving size was normal. There is both an inside an outside seating area in this café. The outside area is great with lots of shade for those sunny mornings. Sitting here you really feel like you are at the beach with the Norfolk Pines of Narrabeen right across the road. We chose to sit inside today as the weather was a bit dodgy.



Our Reviews

South Mona Vale to North Narrabeen

difficulty:                                 easy to moderate

distance:                                 6km return (from Mona Vale)

parking:                                   on street parking in marked bays for 4 hours

worth doing:                           yes

dog friendly:                           no as dogs are not permitted through headland area (though some people take dogs anyway)

Water and toilets are available at Warriewood and North Narrabeen Beach.

Lifesaver Café

Food:                                       good

Service:                                  good

Ambience:                              okay

Would we go again:              yes

Palm Beach

Today we did the iconic Palm Beach to Barrenjoey Lighthouse walk.  It was a beautiful Sydney summer day and it seemed everyone was out early enoying it. Governor Phillip Park was already busy at 8am and the Boathouse where we had planned to have breakfast afterwards was packed and not looking promising. 

We headed north along Pittwater beach and turned off at the sign by the NPWS cottage and followed the main path around to the left. (There is a shorter but more difficult track 'Smugglers track' that veers off to the right). The main track used to be heavy going as it was gravel, stone and rubble and you could often find yourself stumbling.  These days, it is much improved with a reconstructed sandstone road which goes for most of the way.  It is a steep track that flattens out momentarily but then pitches up again. Even if you are used to walking, there are parts that will make you breathe hard, though it’s not very long so it is possible for most people. Anyway you will find you want to stop on the way up to enjoy the fabulous view and get your breath back.

half way

Once at the top, the views are stunning and so worth the walk. There is the beautiful old sandstone lighthouse and cottage and 270 degree ocean views. To the north and north west you can see all the way to Lion Island and Central Coast and to the south and south west there is Palm Beach and Pittwater.

The track can be busy with quite a bit of traffic going up and down so we would recommend going early if you can.

By the time we got back to the Boathouse again, the queues were out the door, so breakfast at the Boathouse was not going to happen today! We hear that Sunday's are always like that so maybe it is best to try it midweek!

The Greedy Goat

This is a great little cafe on  Barrenjoey Road back towards Careel Bay (near the boat brokerage). There are a few different areas of tables, you can choose to eat either out the front near the footpath, inside or out on the lovely covered deck as we did. It has a fantastic breakfast menu  and we chose the bircher muesli with fruit and the mushrooms and eggs. The food was great. It was beautifully presented and really tasty and fresh. Unfortunately it took a while to arrive. We watched as another table who arrived after us were served before us....always deflating and annoying!



Shaz's bircher muesli



 Our reviews

Palm Beach to Barrenjoey lighthouse walk

difficulty:                   easy to moderate

distance:                   4km return (from carpark)

parking:                     meter parking in carpark (pittwater parking permit valid) 

worth doing               yes

Note that there is no water or toilets available along track                       

The Greedy Goat

food:                            great

service:                       slow

ambience:                   good

would we go again:     yes