We take the 380 bus to Bondi to make a start at 0900. The day starts a bit gray and overcast. We start by cheating and stay on the bus past North Bondi and up the hill. We know this part of the walk (we have done it before and it is also the last part of the city to surf), and it is not that interesting being on the road and not by the coast. At the top of the hill, Dover Heights, you can turn off to Rodney Reserve. This runs along the coast and has spectacular views of the cliffs. Unlike last week, there are no beaches on this section, rather it is raised sandstone cliffs al the way up to South Head.
After Rodney Reserve, we have to head back on to the road (Military Road) for a short while. There is a glass house here which must have the only views of both the city and the ocean.
Then, back along the coast walking along a narrow strip called Dover Heights Reserve. This has spectacular ocean views both up and down the coastline.
We then arrive at Diamond Bay, a small craggy and steep inlet in the cliff.
The next stage takes you through Clarke Reserve to Christison Park at the end of which is the Macquarie Lighthouse
From here, great views back along the coast we have just walked and forward to South Head itself.
We walk up past The Gap (famous place where people commit suicide by jumping off the cliff), around to South Head itself. This is a major milestone on the walk as we reach the lighthouse and turn the corner into Jackson Bay (Sydney Harbour).
Immediately coming around South Head you get to Lady Lay Beach (a nudist beach-so we did not take any photos here!), then on to Camp Cove. This is one of our favourite beaches and we often come here in the summer.
We walk along the beach, around the various “water front houses” (which means we can’t walk along the coast ourselves) to Watsons Bay. We always like it here and there is a ferry from here to Circular Quay.
The clouds have cleared now and the day is warming up, so we decide to continue along the south side of the harbour towards Rose Bay rather than stop for the day. As we expected, there is a fair bit of road walking here. Lots of expensive houses down to the water. We eventually come to Parsley Bay. We have seen this from the ferry many times, but never visited. It is interesting because it has a suspension bridge across the narrow entrance to the beach.
Then, unfortunately, more streets, more big (very big) expensive houses. This is Valcluse, the most expensive suburb in Sydney. Not like Balmain as there are no coffee shops. Alex asks me what you have to do to afford a house like this. I say he either has to work hard at school or rob a bank.
After this section we arrive at Nielsen Park which has a very popular beach.
Beyond Nielson Park there is a great walk all the way to Rose Bay (called the Hermitage Foreshore Walk). This was a discovery for us. The walk is right along the coast and is heavily wooded so surprisingly quite and secluded, especially given you can see the City in the distance (the bridge is just hidden by Bradley’s Head to the north).
There are quite a few interesting little beaches along the way, Hermit Bay for example. We pass Strickland House.
The last bit of the walk requires you to get back on the road before coming down the Hill to Rose Bay. Truth is, we are pretty tired now, the extra walk was further than we thought it was going to be. We catch the Ferry from Rose Bay back to Circular Quay (although it goes via Watson’s Bay), and eventually get home by 2pm. A good day, but a bit long.
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