I'm in awe of how many great walks and beaches are within a short bus or ferry ride from our place. I'm trying to do a lot of the walks while it's still cool out, so when spring/summer arrives I can focus on swimming and lazing on the beach, hehe. The other day I walked from Taronga Zoo (almost directly across from the Opera House) to Balmoral Beach near Mosman. It was about a two hour walk and I liked it almost better than the Spit to Manly trail...it was just as scenic and a bit shorter. I definitely want to make it back to Balmoral beach in the summer. There's great sand, restaurants, grassy areas and even a little island that's connected to the shore by a footbridge. Here's a few pics.
On Saturday we decided to head over to the Sydney Fish Market, which is on Blackwattle Bay by Pyrmont. We were pretty excited after reading that it's the largest market of its kind in the Southern Hemisphere and the world's second largest seafood market in terms of variety outside of Japan. I don't know if we missed something or didn't see the whole market, but we were underwhelmed. There's an industrial section of the market where the daily fish auctions take place, but it didn't seem like just anyone could go in those areas. So we stuck to the commercial 'touristy' area with seafood retailers and cafes. Everyone seemed to be getting these platters of takeaway seafood and chips and going outside to eat, so we decided to be followers and do the same.
After pushing our way through the crowds, we got our platter of oysters, fish, calamari, scallops and octopus. The majority of it was fried..a healthy treat! Outside we tried to eat our food before the seagulls did (one bird almost hopped onto my plate while I was eating)! Later in the day our stomachs were hating us for that platter..we had plans to go out for the 4th, but were not feeling well. While I'm glad we saw the fish market, I don't think we'll be going back.
On Sunday we were feeling better and finally got behind the wheel, woohoo! Last week we both signed up with Go Get, a car share company similar to Zipcar in the US. We waited until the last minute (this morning) to book a car so we didn't get the Mini Cooper we had our eye on. Instead we got a minivan! Haha. All the cars have names and our hot ride was called "El Segundo." After a practice lap around Woolloomooloo we hopped on the motorway and headed south, through Royal National Park and onto the Grand Pacific Drive, which weaves along the coastline to Wollongong. We got out of the car at a few vistas to walk around, watch the surfers and try to spy some whales. Then, we finished with lunch (burgers, no seafood) and drove back to the city. It was a nice little day trip. I'd like to return to the Royal National Park and explore that some more.
The other weekend we went on the famed Spit Bridge to Manly walk, which is a path that follows the nothern edge of Sydney Harbour for about 6 km. It's a beautiful hike that passes by beaches/coves, offers expansive views of the harbour and meanders through several beach neighborhood areas. We started our day by taking the bus to the Spit Bridge stop (near Mosman) and after about 3 hours of walking and eating our packed lunch, we ended up at Manly wharf where we had some beers and then caught the ferry home. Hope you enjoy our photos. I HATE the one of the spiders..cringe.
I heard about the Riverboat Postman shortly after arriving in Sydney and for some reason I couldn’t stop thinking about it. I did some online research and came across a recent Wall Street Journal review of the trip - exactly the endorsement I needed! I promptly signed us up.
The Riverboat Postman is just what its name suggests - a boat licensed by Australia Post to deliver the mail to the tiny communities that dot the islands and shores of the Hawkesbury River, some of them accessible only from the water. The Hawkesbury Riverboat Postman claims to be the last of its kind in Australia. I’m not sure how long they’ve been welcoming tourists aboard the boat, but at $50 a pop it’s a nice little moneymaker.
After an easy one hour train ride north of the city, we arrived in the town of Brooklyn. We grabbed some coffee at JJs - a little fish n’ chips shack near the station and then headed to the marina. We joined two other Aussie couples on the boat for an utterly relaxing cruise up the Hawkesbury River. We stopped at probably 6-8 tiny little communities with names like Little Wobby Beach, Dangar Island and Marlow Creek. At each stop someone was waiting for us at the dock (usually with a dog or two) to pick up the mail and possibly some food goods. The boat hand made small talk and tossed biscuits to the dogs, who were always very excited to see us! Living on the Hawkesbury has got to be the epitome of ‘getting away from it all.’ The pace of life just seemed otherworldly.
The Riverboat Postman also proved to be a great way to see the Hawkesbury, which is an extremely scenic waterway that’s navigable for over 100 kilometers. Meandering and tranquil, the river is home to fisherman and oyster boats, which harvest the famous Sydney rock oysters.
After the four hour cruise we arrived back in the town of Brooklyn. We checked out the lunch options and decided to head back to JJs for a salty dose of fish n’ chips. We had some time to kill before the train arrived so we got ice cream at the local hardware store and wandered around a park where we spotted some beautiful gray and pink parrots. A divine day!
We recommend the Riverboat Postman to tourists and friends. To make a booking call 02 9985 7566. Boat departs Brooklyn at 9:30 am Mon-Fri and returns at approximately 1:15 pm.
Over the weekend, we decided to take our first overnight excursion outside of Sydney. We headed West on a 2 hour train ride outside of the city to the Blue Mountains. It's a scenic area close to the city, and believe it or not we did experience seeing a bit of "blue" when looking at hills in the distance. Keep in mind that "mountains" are a bit of a relative term for those of you from the west coast, the highest point in the range being a little over 3000 feet.
We arrived Sunday night and checked in at the "oldest guesthouse in the blue mountains". I'm sure our moms would have appreciated this place as there were tons of original knick knacks and decorations. The town we stayed in is called Katoomba and is home to Yulefest next month. Since Christmas falls in the middle of summer here, the Yulefest festival essentially turns into Christmas in July. Santa makes a visit, and there are plenty of fires, christmas roasts, and holiday drinks.
On Monday we put on our wet weather hiking gear and started on our bushwalk (translation=hike). The area we were in is home to a temperate rainforest. Lucky for us the rain held off, but we spent most of the day in misty, foggy weather that was quite a bit cooler than Sydney. We started out at the main attraction of the area, which is called the Three Sisters, a series of rock formations that jut out from the valley floor. We headed down to the valley floor behind the 3 sisters on the "Giant Stairway". The Giant Stairway was no joke, it's about as far from ADA compliant as you can get. Over 1000 vertical feet and 800 stairs with many parts steeper than the cables on Half Dome in Yosemite. Once we made it to the bottom it was amazing to see how lush and tropical the valley was. A series of waterfalls led us to the boardwalks of "Scenic World", the ultimate Scenic tourist trap. Despite it's shortcomings, it was home to our way out of the valley, and one of the highlights of the trip. A ride up the scenic railway, which happens to be the steepest railway in the world. At a 52 degree slope it's steeper than most expert ski runs, combine that with no seatbelts and it's a fun ride to the top, I highly recommend it.
For friends or others that plan to visit, if you're up for a few miles of hiking/walking, skip the $35/person explorer bus. For $2 each way, you can catch the trolley to echo point or scenic world. Take the $10 one way trip up from the valley floor and try out the giant staircase.
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