Newport to Bilgola

After a big night out I had to drag myself out of bed for this morning’s walk. I'm so glad I did - it was fabulous and a great way to start the day. We decided to head up the tracks behind Newport, through  Bilgola and then back via the beaches. So there we are, at the start of our walk, we have just turned off Barrenjoey Road onto the Newport Rugby field which is surrounded by houses, and right there in front of us is a huge Army helicopter parked on the oval with a few soldiers standing around. We wondered what we had stumbled upon….....was it a movie set?….No (no cameras or ‘location’ signs)……..was it military manoeuvres right here in the middle of suburbia?………we figured since we had to walk right past them we would ask. It turns out they were helping out the lifesavers by dropping some dummies off shore for lifesaver training. Nice to know what our defence dollars are spent on these days!

Back to the walk……We took the track at the back of the field - it heads up a steep set of stairs to Hillside Road. We continued heading up the hill, going through Kanimbla Reserve – another steep climb - eventually we popped out onto Kanimbla Crescent. At one point this track is only a small strip of grass in between two houses. It actually felt like we were walking through someone’s backyard except that it must have been a track because it hadn’t been mowed and the grass on either side was pristine. Heading right we followed this to the end, left onto Wollombi Road (ignoring the ‘NO THROUGH ROAD’ sign), and right at the end onto the Outlook and then right onto Plateau Road. Follow Plateau Road down the hill to the roundabout on Barrenjoey Road and across the other side of Barrenjoey Road head along the Serpentine to the North Bilgola lookout. On the return we stayed on the Serpentine and went down the stairs to Bilgola Beach (entrance is near the roundabout) and walked through the beautiful tree lined streets to our breakfast stop at the café at the south end of the beach. The track back to Newport starts behind the surf club and wanders along the ‘bends’ in between the ocean and Barrenjoey Road. It ends at the Newport Beach carpark.

Bumbalino Café

We have breakfasted here before (see post 26/2/12) and again we were disappointed. We were ready for the lack of service (they shout out your name when your order is ready, then you collect it) and the confusing menu but what let it down today was the food. Sharon had the muesli with dried fruit and yoghurt. The dried fruit was sooooo chewy that she could not eat it. I had scrambled eggs with sautéed vegies which were quite average. We decided that next time we will bypass it and head directly back to Newport.

Our reviews
Newport to Bilgola Beach
difficulty:                        moderate (few hills and stairs)
distance:                        5.5 km return
time taken:                    2.5 hours (including breakfast)                  
parking:                          On street ( we parked on Myola Rd) or Newport Beach Carpark (check parking signs)
worth doing:                  definitely
dog friendly:                  yes, on leash.

water and toilets available at Newport and Bilgola Surf Clubs
Bumbalino Café
food:                               average
service:                           poor
ambience:                       great
would we go again:        no (yes for coffee)