Mona Vale to Bilgola Beach

Bungan Castle

It’s not every day you expect to see a castle when walking on the peninsula and this was one of a couple of surprises. We were probably a bit surprised to be walking anyway as with all the heavy rain we have been having, we had expected to be rained out.  However, our luck held and although there was light drizzle when we set off, it soon turned into sunshine.

Parking in Golf Avenue by Mona Vale golf course, we proceeded on the path north toward Palm Beach, past Mona Vale Surf Club, onto Surfview Road then to the end of Mona Vale basin and up the stairs to Mona Vale headland. From there we headed down Hillcrest Avenue, right onto Barrenjoey Road for a couple of hundered metres then right into Karloo parade which took us down through the Bungan Head. This route takes you around many grand residences that are perched high on the headland.  Our first surprise was on this headland – rounding a corner amongst all the other residences we came across Bungan Castle; a grand old and somewhat rundown castle. 
Futher on we stumbled upon our next surprise in the garden of a house fronting onto the south end of Newport Beach. We couldn’t believe our eyes – a large metal (bronze?) sculpture of a dog on the front lawn doing what dogs do best – squatting and doing his business (yes it was a he)! We only wish we had taken a photo but I think we were both so surprised by the subject and the size of the sculpture that we missed the opportunity.  If any of you know anything about the whys of this, we would love to hear from you!

At the north end of Newport we came across our next surprise..... the bush track that runs along the eastern side of the ‘billy bends’.  Although we have both lived here for many years, this was the first time we had ventured on this walk and had no idea this track existed. It goes from the northern end of Newport Beach carpark, up some steep stairs then alongside the 'bends' and down to Bilgola Beach for breakfast. We stopped at Bumbalino a charming little beachside kiosk that was clearly popular with the cycling crowd amongst others.

Bumbalino Cafe

We sat down at a shared table to look at the menu and one of the patrons told us there had been a mix up and she had taken somebody else’s order and was feeling guilty.  At first we didn’t understand but once we had ordered at the window, we realised what she meant.  When placing an order you give your first name which they shout from the window when you order is ready.  This is fine except if you have the same name as somebody else which our new friend at our table did. Jude went up to order and had no sooner sat down than her name was called out. We both thought how quick it had been but soon discovered there was another Jude breakfasting there!   As the beach front was so busy with families, nippers etc it was sometimes hard to hear the names being called.  We had been waiting for some time when another patron who was leaving kindly came and told us they were calling Jude’s name.

The menu was a bit confusing as Shaz had ordered bacon and eggs with mushrooms and tomatoes and Jude ordered eggs with the same, however when it arrived we discovered it was either bacon or mushrooms and tomatoes. It was nice though and the coffee was really good.  

Our reviews
Mona Vale to Bilgola Beach
difficulty:                       moderate (few hills and stairs)
distance:                       10.5km return
parking:                         on street - we parked on Golf Avenue
worth doing:                 definitely
dog friendly:                  yes, on leash

water and toilets available along the way at Mona Vale, Newport and Bilgola beaches.

Bumbalino Cafe
food:                                mixed, but average overall
service:                          poor (no table service)
ambience:                      great
would we go again:      maybe

Spit to Manly

A beautiful day,  4 great girlfiends, a great walk and a delicous lunch.....bliss! Last Monday a few of my girlfriends and I did the Spit to Manly walk....only we shortened it because of time constraints and started at Clontarf. I have wanted to do this walk for a long time and finally got around to it. It was briilliant!  - why did I wait so long! We started at the Southern Side of Clontarf Reserve and headed South past the houses and followed the signs to Castle Rock- up the stairs and along the track. It can be a bit tricky getting around on the beach without getting your feet wet as the water laps right up to the back fences.....its all in the timing.....and I mis-timed it and then had to do the walk with one completely soaked shoe! We had had a massive storm in Sydney the night before so the track was pretty wet and slushy, so everyone ended up with soggy shoes anyway!

Reef beach

The track takes us through the bush and past Castle Rock, Tania Park, then Sydney Harbour National Park, Forty Baskets Beach, through North Harbour Reserve around the Fairlight foresehore and past Fairlight beach and pool, then on to Manly past the Manly Paviliion Restaurant and to the Manly Wharf. From Clontarf to the National Park it is a moderate uphill incline and then downhill to the beachfront. The only other slight hills are from Fairlight to Manly but it is all quite easy and the track is pretty good (except for quite a few puddles from the huge downpour the night before). The sights we see along the way are awesome: from overlooking middle harbour and the Balmoral area, the Aboriginal stone carvings; to the Manly Ferry crossing the heads with city in the distance; or to North Head and the Quarantine Station beaches; and then finally the majestic sight of Manly Cove. Better still was the refereshing swim at Reef Beach - what a gorgeous spot that it is. The sun was shining, the water was crystal clear, there was no-one else around - absolutely irrestible! Only problem with that was we had to continue the walk with wet underwear - still, it was so worth it!

The other issue with this walk is the logistics in only doing a one way walk. We met up at Manly and one of us drove to Clontarf, then after lunch we drove back to Clontarf to fetch the car. The alternatives are to catch a city bus from Manly that goes right past the Spit or to hop in a taxi.

Bluewater Cafe Manly

Kumera salad

Lamb salad

There is such a huge choice of places to eat at Manly - from the Wharf to the Corso, to the Beachfront and lots of side streets and alleys in between. We headed down the Corso to the beachfront and chose Bluewater Cafe which is toward Manly Surf Club end of the beach. It offers both outdoor and inside dining options. We were pretty keen on being in the shade by then so we chose inside and were ushered to a table down the back. We figure they were moving the hot, sweaty riff-raff in training gear out of the way of the 'proper' customers! The lunch menu was pretty good - it had a variety of wraps, burgers, salads and off course fish and chips. At first they didn't seem too keen on taking our order and we were pretty hungry by then, so we had to give them a hurry up! Once that was sorted it was all good.  The salads and wraps were delicious and the coffee was great and the prices were fairly reasonable.

Our Reviews
Spit to Manly walk
difficulty:                       easy
distance:                       9km (7km Clontarf to Manly)
parking:                         Spit-Parking meters
                                       Clontarf-free on xx street or meters in Clontarf reserve carpark & Manly Council carparks in Manly
worth doing:                 yes definitely
dog friendly:          on leash only (no dogs allowed in the National Park - take alternate route through local roads for that portion)

water and toilets available along the way at  North Harbour Reserve and Oceanworld.

Bluewater Cafe  
food:                                 looked and tasted great
service:                           good
ambience:                       great
would we go again:       yes

Curl Curl to Freshwater

Freshwater 

What a glorious morning and a fabulous walk. We started from North Curl Curl and headed down the road and across the Curl Curl lagoon bridge then took the track through the dog park which pops out near Curl Curl Surf Club. I know that there is a great cafe here but our destination was Freshwater so we continued up and around the beach and on to the boardwalk past the rock platform and then down the steps to the Freshwater Ocean Pool and the beach. We skirted the beach then followed the track on the South side of the beach which took us up to top of the hill overlooking Queenscliff. From there we zig-zagged through the streets making our way to Freshwater shops and a breakfast stop. After breakfast we headed back to Freshwater beach and then back along the boardwalk and past Curl Curl, then up that final big hill to towards Dee Why and our car. It was a pretty hot morning and we were glad to get out of the sun.

Along our walk we saw some great summer sights; fishermen fishing off the rocks; swimmers doing their laps; kiddies having their swim lessons; nippers galore on the beach; rescue drills by lifesavers and kids and parents at work on their sandcastles at the waters edge. All this activity meant there were loads of people about and loads of people heading to the beach means cars! cars! cars! The car park at Freshie was mayhem and we were very glad to be walking!
We are so lucky here on the Northern Beaches to have so much beauty right on our doorstep. Each week on our walks we really do marvel at it and appreciate just how lucky we are. It is such a great feeling to be out there amongst it and to see so many others making the most of it too! There was only one thing missing and that was was our swimmers. It was hard to walk past the crystal clear water without jumping in.......maybe next time!

 The Bronzed Onion

We didnt really have a cafe in mind and checked out a few, but to be honest, we weren't enthralled with any of them and in the end decided on the Bronzed Onion. Not one of our better decisions! The menu was a mix of Mexican and Australian with a choice of burritos, pancakes and muesli. I thought I would go for something different and tried a vegetarian burrito -  a bit of tabasco in the morning for an extra kick start! It was a mixture of scrambled eggs, spinach, salsa and tabasco wrapped in a tortilla with a light sprinkling of cheese then toasted and I have to say it was surprisingly nice. On the other hand Shaz's muesli which looked great with mounds of fresh fruit on top was far too sweet and she couldn't bear to finish it. The juices however were great - and interesting combinations. We tried the pineapple and mint and it was delicious. Talking about interesting, our waitress was something else. We decided she had had a big night and well, lets just say she wasn't at the top of her game. But then again, perhaps she never was! or maybe she was just having a bad day!

Our reviews
Curl Curl to Freshwater
difficulty:                       easy to moderate (few hills and stairs)
distance:                       7km return
parking:                         on street - we parked on Griffin Road
worth doing:                 definitely
dog friendly:                  yes, on leash

water and toilets available along the way at Curl Curl and Freshwater beaches.

Bronzed onion
food:                                mixed, but average overall
service:                          poor
ambience:                      average
would we go again:       no

Narrabeen Lake Track (via Jamieson Park)

For our walk this week we chose Narrabeen Lake track. Starting at Berry Reserve Narrabeen we headed south, going through Wheeler Park, then Jamieson Park and then to the end of the track at Wheeler Heights, then back to our breakfast stop at Narrabeen. The  track will eventually go all the way around the lake and meet up with the newly constructed track at Middle Creek.......well that's Council's plan...........hope we are still blogging our walks by then........we might be needing zimmer frames for walking assistance though!!

This was one of the very few beautiful, sunny Sunday mornings we have had in Sydney all summer and it was stunning. The lake was glistening; the birds were singing; the kayakers were out paddling; and the stand up paddle board lesson was in session. It is an easy flat walk all the way, at first on pavement then on bush track. One problem was that because of all the recent rain the track was pretty muddy and slushy in parts.....but we expected that so thats no big deal. The real problem was that half of Narrabeen was also there so it became rather busy. There were a lot of walkers and a lot of  push bikers all out to enjoy the great morning. Because the track is rather narrow in parts you have to pull over to the side to let the push bikers pass. Usually we are pretty relaxed about these things but did tire of it after a while.  Shaz, what was that you said about bike bells and bottoms??? Though, with that said it was still a great morning walk and we would do it again. Perhaps it best to hit this track before 7am.

H20 Cafe Narrabeen

We were so looking forward to our breakfast here, the cafe is always full, the food looks great and the setting is fabulous. We had tried to eat here one Sunday morning a few months back but there were no tables left. This time we booked first just to make sure! The menu was great, really interesting dishes that were a bit different from most breakfast menus. That of course meant that it was difficult to choose!!! The pancake stacks and the smoothies looked awesome, but we both went with the corn cakes with rocket, mushrooms and poached eggs. Unfortunately we were sadly disappointed. The presentation was great but the corn cakes were dry, my egg was over cooked and the mushrooms were, to put it politely...yuk! On the positive side, the coffee was good.

Our Reviews
Narrabeen Lake Track (via Jamieson Park)
difficulty:                       easy
distance:                       6km return
parking:                         Berry Reserve car park
worth doing:                 yes but go early to avoid bikes
dog friendly                   on leash only

water and toilets available along the way at Wheeler Park, the Sailing Club and Berry Reserve.

H20 Cafe
food:                                 looked great but tasted average
service:                           good
ambience                        great
would we go again        yes....we would love to try other dishes on menu