Midlife Perigrinations

Visit this place.

Getting there

Cronulla is easy to reach about 1 hour out of Sydney on the T4 line.

You can then catch the oldest timetabled ferry in Australia. This was launched in 1939.

It takes about 20 minutes to reach Bundeena.

Bundeena is a small village which is the jumping off point for walks through the National Park which is apparently the second largest only to Yellowstone.

The National Park

My visit only scraped the surface and one tiny corner. You could walk for miles and miles.

Choose you paths carefully. One I followed turn out to be soft sand and was energy sapping. Others are rock or much firmer.

Wildlife

I have no idea if anything is poisonous. There were some moderate sized spiders that  I came across.

There were many birds from parrots and cockatoos to others I could hear but not see.

There are also bigger animals such as Wombats. These excrete cube shaped faeces. I did seem some and can confirm this is true but will not post the picture!!

The Coast

The sandstone rocks have been shaped and patterned by the wind and sea  and are quite spectacular.

Cronulla

Whilst Bundeena is small and with only a few shops and cafes, Cronulla is a good sized town with decent shops in number and quality. It certainly would be a very nice place to live.

I believe that other parts of Port Hacking contain some of the most spectacular and expensive properties in Greater Sydney so you would have well to do neighbours if you could afford to live in Cronulla.

The beaches were also pleasant and I even had a swim.

So this is is a really  pleasant area to visit and you could spend a very long time exploring the park.

And all within a train ride of Sydney.

I like Manly. Last time I came i thought it was a lovely place with a spectacular walk to the North Head of the Sydney Harour entrance.

So I wanted to visit again this time. I also wanted to explore Manly a bit more so I decided to walk up the North coast and the ocean side beaches.

Suburbs and Suburbs

I arrived by the iconic Manly ferry – about 30 minutes from Circular Quay. This is a fantastic way to see the Eastern Harbour.

On reaching Manly I was reminded that it is quite built up. From the quay I walked up the main street and reached the beach with is rolling waves.

I had come before 9am, albeit on a weekend, and yet the place was busy with people surfing, swimming, playing sport, jogging or simply walking their dogs.

I walked the length of the beach and then weaved through residential roads to reach beach after beach after beach. All similarly busy. Many beaches had activities for kids, particularly junior lifeguard training.

I was unable to find a coastal path and t became somewhat tiring walking along streets of houses, although it was a pleasant surprise on reaching another beach.

Dee Why – far enough

I made it to Dee Why beach and decided that was far enough, This was a busy place with some beach side cafes and shops and looked quite a nice community,

I was able to catch a bus back to Manly from here.

To the Spit.

I then decided to follow a waymarked path along the harbour side coast to The Spit at Mosman. This proved to be an enjoyable 10km walk although quite hard going in places.

There were great views of the harbour entrance

As well as local wildlife!

There was also a good view over Manly showing hoax narrow the place is, between the harbourside and ocean side.

Once I reached The Spit I crossed the bridge. This is low level and still needs to open to let yachts through.

I caught a bus back to the city and a rest.

Manly – Is it still a yes?

Yes. I still like it. I was impressed with the suburbs and so great beaches but Manly itself and the walk to North Head are great and preferred.