Queenscliff to Shelley Beach

Manly is such a great place and one of my favourite walks has to be from Queenscliff along Manly beachfront to Shelley Beach.  I have walked and run this route so many times over the years and never get tired of it. All your senses come alive – so many sights, sounds and smells from nature, from people and from food.  It never ceases to amaze me how varied the people are that you see along the way. There’s always heaps of fit young things whizzing past, parents with their prams dodging everyone but the ones that I just love are the octaganarians out for their morning exercise.  It always puts a smile on my face to see them shuffling by, still making the most of life.....they are truly inspirational!

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.

Our reviews

Queenscliff to Shelley Beach
difficulty:                        easy
distance:                        6 km return
time taken:                    2 hours (including breakfast)                  
parking:                          Kierle Park Manly or on street 
worth doing:                  definitely
dog friendly:                  yes, on leash.

water and toilets available at Queenscliff, North Steyne and Manly Surf Clubs
Whitewater
food:                                good
service:                           excellent
ambience:                       excellent
would we go again:        definitely