32 Darri Walk - Turramurra

Tuesday, 226th March

31 Circular Quay to Double Bay

Circular Quay to Double Bay:

From Circular Quay our group of walkers  proceeded around the Opera House to Mrs Macquarie's Chair, hugging the shore line past the Boy Charlton Pool with full views of Wooloomooloo Wharf on the left.  Onwards to Harry Cafe de Wheels and Double Bay

The following was the planned route mapped out by  Wendy which we dutifully followed.  The walk took about 3 hours in perfect weather.  

Wendy's Notes:

Walk along Cowper Wharf Rd (perhaps have a quick squizz at the posh restaurants on the Wharf?).

Up McElhone steps (quite steep) to Victoria Rd in Potts Point

Take in lovely views from the park there that overlooks the Sydney Fleet  Base. The view extends right across to the Bot. Gdns.

Up Challis Ave into Macleay St (lots of great coffee spots and shops here if anyone wants to leave the walk here and head home via Kings Cross station).

Down small signposted lane to Elizabeth Bay House and its tiny remaining patch of garden.

Down along Billyard Ave, passed mansions like the multi million dollar Boomerang (now owned by Lindsey Fox).

Left into picturesque Beare Park (saved from John Singelton's huge marina over development proposal by resident action).

Up Ithaca Rd (reasonably steep); cross Elizabeth Bay Rd.; down Holdsworth Ave to Steps into Rushcutters Bay Park.

Walk around foreshore to Pavilion in the Park (good coffee stop).

Along New Beach Rd, up Loftus Rd (quite steep) into Darling Point Rd 

Beautiful McKell Park is at the very end of Darling Point Rd (it's the one that Kerry Stokes is sueing Woollahra Council over weddings held there) and is really worth the stroll (but if everyone is too tired we could skip McKell Park). It offers some truly outstanding views of harbour activities (one feels one could reach out and touch the yachts, they seem so close!) and is one of our harbour's jewels, said Wendy persuasively.....!

Right into Marathon Rd. and down steps into Steyne Park in Double Bay, with its tempting coffee places and SHOPS!

Catch the ferry from Double Bay Wharf back to Circular Quay.

(The above to keep for future reference)

====================

McKell Park was indeed a gem, Rushcutters seems to have more boats than ever before, Elizabeth Bay House garden is green, lush, manicured with fat Wealthy Koi contented in a perfect pond.  No time for shops though, it was Walk, Walk today. We boarded the ferry at about noon. We saw much:   old  homes and new, stone walls, historic homes, city sky scrapers, Wooloomooloo Bay, Potts Point, Sir David Martin Reserve (Kate knows this place well) Double Bay Sailing Club, Wendy's daughter's new unit looking on to the bay, the parks, massive cottonwool clouds.   It was interesting, lovely, revealing. The MCA provided a well earned rest, lunch and coffee before train rides home again.  Estimates vary between 4 and 7 Kms!!

Walkers:  Pippa, Donna, Wendy, Moira, Kate, Carolle

Wooloomooloo Bay 

Tumbledown Sandstone

Elizabeth House Garden

Rushcutters Bay 

Wealthy Koi

Rushcutters Bay 

view from McKell Park

McKell Park

McKell Park view of city

view from McKell Park

Anish Kapoor

Passing Clouds- thank you Anish Kapoor

Wooloomooloo Bay

30 Boronia Park, Buffalo Creek Track, Mulgala Park

Boronia Park/Buffalo Creek Track to Magdala Park:

Superlatives in abundance for this walk:  Many aspects,so much to take in and so much worth  remembering.   

 ……….with grey skies, occasional gentle rain, cockatoos  and kookaburras (and planes overhead - this is  Sydney), birds chirping, fleeting fish, white black boys (Xanthorrhoeas) sandstone boulders, great sandstone corridors, Kitty Creek, Lane Cove River, Boronia Park, Buffalo Creek, Magdala Park, boardwalks, timber stairs, stone steps, a mangrove forest, a mangrove lake, magical mysterious spaces, a viewing platform, remnant shells,  fairy bridges, casuarina forests, samphire, burgundy damp and shiny wet, tide up, tide high,  winding up at the delightful Unwritten Bookshop  Cafe.  

 Could we, would we repeat it……yes.

Walkers: Wendy, Kate, Moira, Donna, Carolle

Red Riding-hood

Thank you!

a Mangrove Lake

Witches' fingers

Step-ladder

a lonely sentinel

29 Harold Reid Reserve

The coffee in Edinburgh Road, Castle Crag was good at the dearest little cafe.   Iced coffee with ice-cream for most of us.  

 We had extra company by way of  Wendy's house guests, Anne and Mike from London who were delightful  company.  The only disappointment was that we needed  a stunning walk to show off  Sydney to U.K. visitors, but alas,  the Harold Reid Reserve track did not reach any superlatives.. Wendy I know has a growing list of worthwhile walks for her overseas visitors and here we were  on a walk I would not add to any list!  We cannot win every time.

Never before have we had so much map reading, direction discussion and Donna app consultation.    At a big yawning hole in the ground,  the group  split, one to get lost somewhere while the other ambled along hopefully on a separate path.  At least we saw Pippa's wrens and when we stopped to look there were many of them. 

Walkers, Donna, Pippa, Moira, Wendy, Kate,  Carolle and guests Mike and Anne Taylor

   

28 Sailors Bay Walk - Northbridge/Warners Park

Not Me

Sailors Bay Walk and Warners Park :   The Park is a gem, delightfully designed, clever landscaping with lovely secret places for small children as well as being charming in every way. Quite pristine it was, shiny BBQ for example. The Park adjoined the  Sailors Bay Track which is  quite short really  but with so  many steps up and down, many, several times. Craggy.  We came upon a little waterfall, missed the Coachwood  forest  which we  forgot to notice or there was just too much chatter!  Very good  coffee was had alongside noisy Sailor Bay road.   

Walkers:  Donna, Moira, Wendy,  Jane,  Carolle

Kids at play