Sometimes
living just gets in the way of the best intentions. That’s what has happened to
our blog over the last few of weeks. Busy work schedules and other stuff meant
we just didn’t get around to it. You will be glad to know that we did actually
walk, it’s just the blogging that suffered!
Manly
Dam Circuit Track
We
cannot believe that we have both lived on the Northern Beaches for so many
years and neither of us had ever been to Manly Dam before, not even for a
picnic! It was such a surprise from the UNSW Hydraulics lab at the entrance, the
lovely picnic grounds, the waterski jump, the waterfall and of course the
tracks. We both wanted to rewind our lives quite a few years and bring
our young families for a picnic…. Oh how I wish I could hit
the rewind button!
We
used the King Street, Manly Vale entrance to the Dam and parked inside the
gates. From there we headed away from the dam wall, past the first few picnic
areas and the boat ramp. We followed the road, turning right at the turning
circle, past some more picnic areas, and more still until you reach ‘Section 4’
picnic area with a toilet block. Here we picked up the ‘circuit track’ which took
us through the bush, over rocks, on a boardwalk past the waterbird area and
then to a great waterfall. And that’s just the first few of kilometres.
The
night before there had been quite a bit of rain and the track was quite muddy
in parts and at times hard to avoid treading in. At about the half way point the
bike track from Wakehurst Parkway meets the walking track. Sharing the track with bikes is not an issue as the
track widens a fair bit here, you just need to be aware of them. You also
have to cross a creek here too. The creek runs across a rock platform and if
you are careful you could probably avoid getting wet feet….we were already
sloshing in our shoes, so what’s a bit more water anyway….
Once you make it over
the other side of the creek the track totally changes to a more of a rubbly,
rocky road. There are a few steep climbs which are very tough going for the
bike riders. We could feel their legs burning as they pushed up some of those hills. There was one rider that we kept passing on the
uphills and she would then whizz past us on the downhills. We wondered if she
was smiling on the inside hidden by her exterior of pain and exhaustion.
After
another couple of kilometres on this track we came upon some houses and the Allambie Heights tennis courts. It seemed so funny that after walking though all that bush (probably 5 kms) we simply stumbled back into suburbia.
The funnier thing is that we then lost the track. We could not find where the
track picked up again to take us the short distance to the end. We tried a few
little tracks but it didn’t feel like we were going in the right direction.
Feeling hungry and defeated we took the easy option and went the long way down
Allambie Road. We were both lamenting how much longer we had made our walk and
were at the stage of eyeing of taxis as they drove past us. We were hungry and
in need of a break and then we come across the Buzz Stop - a great little
café/deli/mini market on Kentwell Street Allambie. The lovely shopkeeper then
gave us a huge bonus - directions for a short cut back to our car…..priceless!
I
can hear you asking, and the answer is……no, we didn’t take a map. We also
discovered that iPhone maps of bush tracks leave a lot to be desired.
What is that saying about tradesmen blaming their tools? I am happy to report
that I have now found a good map of the track and recommend that you take it
with you (link below). Overall, the walk was fabulous and we highly recommend
it. Our one criticism is the lack of signage - they really are few and far
between. Despite our misadventure we will definitely do it again, and we will
be sure to get the whole way around next time (and take the map)!
Buzz
Stop
It’s not a trendy or
upmarket café by any stretch, but it was such a welcome sight and the food was
better than we had expected. We both had poached eggs with sourdough: the eggs
were cooked just right and the sourdough was really good.
Our
reviews
Manly
Dam Circuit Track
difficulty:
moderate
distance:
7.5 km return
time
taken:
3.5 hours (including
breakfast)
parking:
Manly Dam parking area entrance off King Strret Manly Vale
worth doing:
definitely
dog friendly:
some areas no dogs allowed - check with Warringah Council first
manly dam map.pdf
water and toilets
available at the start and at Section 4 picnic area
Buzz
Stop
food:
good
service:
very good
ambience:
pleasant
would we go
again: definitely
We
started off on a lovely clear crisp autumn morning from Queenscliff. The track goes through the park by the lagoon, onto the boardwalk by the beach, past the surf clubs, past Bower Cafe and shop and onto to Shelley Beach. By the
time we had reached Shelley Beach the weather had changed, it started raining and it felt like
winter had arrived. We made a quick dash back along the track to the
cover of the Surf Club and then onto the serious business of eating.
Whitewater Restaruant
As
I’m sure you would all know Manly is café central, and on a Sunday morning it is
definitely the place to be for breakfast. The hardest part (that reminds me of
the Coldplay song with the great video clip of the old lady doing acrobatics)…is choosing somewhere to eat. We wanted to stay close to the ocean
so chose Whitewater. The menu was great with most things having an interesting
twist on the usual breakfast offerings.
I chose scrambled eggs with chorizo and salsa while Shaz had the toasted muesli with
yoghurt and berry coulis. The food was pretty good though we both agreed that
it looked better than it tasted. Shaz’s muesli was too sweet and my scrambled
eggs were a tiny bit overcooked for my liking. Are we getting fussier or perhaps our expectations are too high???
Regardless, we still enjoyed it and sitting there soaking up the atmosphere is
a awesome.
