91 Elouera Bushland National Park

90 Clifton Gardens to Curlew Artists' Camp

The walk from Clifton Gardens to Curlew Artists’ Camp and back again was our first walk for 2015.   ‘Quite short ‘ said Wendy who so kindly and helpfully joined all the dots, where to start, where to go, where to end.  We found ourselves walking and walking while our heads were telling us this was a ’short ’walk. It was lovely, every inch of the way, gorgeous board walks, views, Bradleys Head, the Zoo, the bridge, the boats, a lazy lizard, the Artists’ camp which made us wonder about conditions  over a hundred years ago, also thoughts of a piano being hauled to that rugged little spot, Sirius Cove, such clear harbour water,  little stone walls from once upon a time. Finally our footsteps led back to Clifton Gardens, crossing  the beach to our now familiar Bacino Kiosk. En route  once again we looked up at  The Manor which we have seen before from different angles on different walks. 

 “The Manor one member wrote in 1931, was destined to be ‘a divine station from which will emanate the moral and spiritual forces  that cleanse and heal our world’.  Well, interesting as well as notable people passed through those portals.  Wish they’d been more influential in cleansing and healing our world though.  All the same, that manor has some vibrant  history in Australia’s cultural life.

None of us,  I think, except for Wendy, had actually visited the site of the famous artists’ camp before.    

One important and worthwhile result of this walk was that it was Good exercise with  valuable huff puff and very good for the condition of our hearts!

Walkers:  Marie-Claire, Moira, Kate,Wendy, Donna, Jane, Carolle

89 Sea Cliff Bridge

SEA CLIFF BRIDGE:

The Sea Cliff Bridge is one of only seven off-shore parallel to coast bridges in the world.

What a lovely Day.  Linzi was here, the rain kept away as did the storms  - in fact the prediction was that Tuesday would be the only day without  a storm and so it proved to be. Two cars with drivers Pippa and Donna.  Heading South we arrived unhindered at our destination at Coalcliff.

Our walk started in  pretty Leader Park a nice surprise due to  a  small wooded and  beautiful little gully with its bridge over a stream with a waterfall .   The stream with good sized shiny  boulders led down to a little beach which we could see from the vantage point on the bridge.  Water Monitors lazed on the rocks below.

It was not difficult to find our way towards the Sea Cliff Bridge where almost right away our expectations were exceeded as stunning views and  great rocky platforms with fringing  waves presented themselves  while the heights of the coals cliffs loomed on one side.  Ahead we could see the great swathes of engineered bridge construction  all  grey and white and cleanly commanding  space above rocks but close to cliff faces.

From Coalcliff to Clifton we went.   On reaching Clifton we found parks on either side of the road.    A  nondescript tiny building turned out to be a toilet facility, which, surprise, surprise, contained electronic wonders of piped music,  buttons galore to open and to close doors,  buttons to shoot out lengths of toilet paper, hand washing sensors to notify toilet flushing which obediently flushed. Seemed somewhat out of place in that quiet rural area.

We retraced  our steps back again along  the Bridge to to Coalcliff where we settled into our cars to drive this time,  across the Bridge.  This of course equalled the third crossing of the morning.  The destination was lunch at Austinmer so starting at Coalclioff we passed through all the suburbs/villages along the way -   Clifton, Scarborough, Wombarra, Coalbrook before arriving at Austinmer to stop at AustinmerBeach Cafe for, let’s see,   two iced coffees with Everything -    one iced coffee, no ice, no cream  -  three Detoxes with ginger and unusually for Moira No  coffee nor a little warm milk on the side.  

After lunch at Austinmer we needed to cross that Bridge once more to get home. Oi, Oi, our FOURTH Bridge crossing.  Been there, done that we can satisfactorily say!  Four times in one day.

En route home though we stopped at Stanwell Tops for the  sky-diving, para gliding  spectacle. Here we met up with Judy Gill which was such an added bonus. Judy informed us that the wind was excellent which accounted for many people gathered on the high point of Bald Head.  The Sky diving kites were magnificent as they soared against the backdrop of the Sea Cliff Bridge in the distance.

At Bald Head we indulged in extra ice creams and Affogato as we watched the kites in the sky.

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How lovely it was to have Linzi with us again.   Time flew but we managed to hear bits of Linzi’s exciting trips abroad during  her ’Gap Year’.  I think we all were able to catch up between the adventures of the day. 

 Kate’s trip to Canada though remains a mystery to me at least - next time there may be more time to hear about some of that.

88 Tunks Park

Tunks Park - a pretty park, bound on both sides by bush with Long Bay at one end and the wonderful Northbridge suspension bridge at the other.   The Park is perfect for people and their dogs, for children, for sport, for old men taking a quiet stroll down to the rocks next to the creek (as we saw), for a lone young fella doing Tai Chi, for  elderly couples with thermos flasks, for Lycra jogger gals, for people with boats.  Something there for everyone really.  A nice peaceful place to visit though probably  not quite the same on sports days.  Still, there is enough space all around while down next to the creek it is quietly beautiful as well as peaceful.

An important point for us with regard to this walk is that it is the middle link walk between the Artarmon to Middle Harbour Walk track and the Wreck Bay/Long Bay Walking track.   This time we actually walked back to the creek crossing steps which we crossed on a memorable rainy day way back in 2012!  We also climbed the narrowest gap of steps which led to the Northbridge Golf course at the opposite side of the park  hence ensuring that we had covered all of the distance from Artarmon to Dorset Road, Northbridge. 

Coffee  at Sprout Wholefood Cafe, Narremburn.

Walkers: Marie-Claire, Pippa, Moira, Donna, Jane, Carolle

87 Northbridge - Clive Park, Minimbah Road

At the end of Sailors Bay Road in Northbridge  we set off to explore Clive Park and surrounding area.  Unexpected surprises presented themselves the first being Clive Park itself.   Although small, it has excellent picnic tables, benches, BBQ area well set apart in a couple of little glades under  trees looking through to Sailor Bay and across the water to Castlecrag.   It felt quietly secluded even though a few children with attendant adults were enjoying the  beach below.   Our path led around large boulders skirting  the beach. Right there in front of us was, allegedly,one of the the smallest sea pools in Sydney.  See photo.     

From Clive Park we turned into Minimbah Road to walk along its entire length  passing the Marina before ending up at the Swimming Centre.   Again families were enjoying the new found summer weather.  

En route down Minimbah  we looked  for and found Bob’s and Blanche’s house.  

A friend of ours (the three walkers today)  lived on the cliff above B and B’s house.  She deliberately and crossly grew  bamboo to avoid having to watch the  PM putting around the roof-top Putting Green.  From where we were below on the road we could see that bamboo higher up on the cliff.

Further on we found the beautiful Italian style house where we three once attended a memorable party.   Peering over the high wall was pointless as all we could see were the terracotta roof tiles   Too steep, too far below.  

Minimbah Road  proved  to be an interesting road with houses strung hung down the steep cliff with two, three or more floor levels needing mechanical movers clinging wherever possible.  Stairs and stilts and railing and steps of every description.  A glass mosque like dome on one home, another with a stunning glass roof the shutters of which created floor patterns two stories below.  Architecturally interesting, sometimes very pleasing.  Gardens likewise. 

 Pippa noticed  iron supports on the cliff face - woe if ever a tremor sends rocks skidding down.  One can only admire architects and builders who have won the odds agains the slope, the cliff and the rocks.

After an hour and a half of good walking we visited Tram Expresso on Sailors Bay Road.  The owners/staff were interested in our choice of coffees, teasing, laughing - pleasant place.  We all  agreed it was a relaxed, comfortable venue

86 - Rookwood Necropolis/Hidden Sculpture walk

Rookwood Necropolis

Thanks to Pippa’s precise instructions and her belief that car driving was the way to go, we found our way to Rookwood easily, following those instructions right into the selected parking spot.  We also followed up later by having coffee in the cafe, Reflections. Thank you Pip for all that research.  It seemed unbelievably difficult, too far, too hard but you eased the way by  showing us how to go.

 

Well, at last we found ourselves in Rookwood Necropolis along with the added bonus of the “Hidden” sculpture exhibition both of which kept us transfixed, interested and thoroughly fascinated for the few hours we were able to wander through just a fraction of the 283 hectares.

Jane guided us from sculpture to sculpture with the aid of her guide-book.  While the sculptures sometimes fascinated,  the surrounded area dominated,  coloured as it was with emerging spring colour; graves were either highly polished shiny or grey crumbling with age, a sense of decay mixed with modern carved glitzed marble, structures massive or tiny, some buried sunken obliquely into the ground,  topsy turvy. There were monuments, mausoleums, symbols of every religion, rows of precise granite memories edged by another section of unruly disorder.  Somehow it all hung together in the most charming way with scattered  monuments, chapels, urns, obelisks, shelters, beautiful trees, birds,  dale up,  dale down, vistas, views, Few  of us had ever been to this monumental place, few of us could guess the enormity, the size, nearly a million internments. 

  Established in 1868, it is protected by an act of Parliament.  

We didn’t see the the original 81 hectares which is  subject to a Permanent Conservation Order  “represents the largest and one of the finest surviving examples of a Victorian public cemetery anywhere in the world”   It was designed as a  “grand gardenesque style” once fashionable. Surely we need return, there are still another 200 plus hectares for us to explore!

Walkers:  Pippa, Marie-Claire, Jane, Kate, Carolle

85 - Turimetta Headland, Coastal Walk

84 - Engravings Walk - Seaforth Oval /near Ban try Bay

Engravings Walk:

After many weeks of rain a sunny day finally permitted  a Walk.  Yay, hooray.

The Engravings Walk is, as the name suggests a destination for Aboriginal engravings on  a rock sandstone platform.

The first half is the track is a bush track which gives  way to a service trail.   Here, because of unusually  high rainfall we found large muddy pools right across our path.  We walked parallel to the Wakehurst Parkway  close by,  unseen but heard.

The destination of the expansive sandstone platform was reached after we climbed through  protective fencing.   Some of the Aboriginal engraving were  very faint while a few showed up bold and large.

After a good look at the engravings while wandering over the smooth surfaces of the fascinating sandstone  platforms  we retraced our steps to Seaforth Oval.  

Another track leads from that starting point, The Timbergetters Track which almost became the choice for the next walk.   Unfortunately it falls in the “Hard” category.  Pity really but we will give it a miss.   Moderation in all things including walks.   The Moderate category is a perfectly good and an acceptable grading for us.

Coffee in  Roseville,  Hill Street Beans  where Kate joined us.

Walkers:  Moira, Pippa, Marie-Claire, Donna Carolle

After the rains

83 - Huntleys Point, over Gladesville Bridge, under Tarban Bridge

The Three Bridges Walk sounds frightfully impressive but it was an easy walk.  We did in fact cover three bridges one way or another.

On this beautiful July warm sunny day we commenced our walk  in Huntleys Point, that rather exclusive littler suburb  in Sydney’s Hunter Hill Municipality located on the northern shore of the Parramatta River.

From Huntleys Point Road we headed  under the Tarban Creek Bridge which we walked over in November last year.  

 under Gladesville Bridge

Entrance stairs on to Gladesville Bridge from Huntleys Point

Gladesville Bridge - northern end

Parramatta River from bridge

Backyards Huntleys Point

Parramatta River/Huntleys Point

High above Huntleys Point

Five dock Bay foreground

Drummoyne, Abbottsford, Cabrita,Looking Glass Bay, Gladesville

Drummoyne 

south end Gladesville Bridge

Under Gladesville Bridge

Stain at Hunters Hill

  

After following the grassy verge alongside noisy Victoria Road we found the spiral stairs leading up to the footbridge high across Victoria Road.  We were able to gaze down on  the never ending traffic way below.  Then we continued over and down the other side descending  alongside Riverside School.

We gained access to the Gladesville Bridge footpath  via the entrance stairs on the northern end of the bridge.  The Bridge links Hunters Hill to Drummoyne part of  Victoria Road carrying traffic on the Northern Western Expressway. 

Coffee at Stain,   Hunters Hill.

Walkers:  Pippa, Marie-Claire, Moira, Jane, Donna, Carolle

82 Banjo Patterson Park, Gladesville Hospital, Bedlam Point

Approaching Jetty, Looking Glass Bay

Convict built remains of old ferry punt walls

Bedlam Bay

ghosts in the trees 

Mass grave nearby see Wiki notes

The old Boat Shed

Gladesville Hospital

Gladesville Hospital

Banjo Patterson Park, Bedlam Point, Gladesville Hospital, Looking Glass Bay:  Our Tuesday Walk  started on Punt Road in Gladesville which leads directly to the front of Banjo Patterson Restaurant, “Rockend” once home to eminent  journalist, author, clerk, poet, Andrew Barton “Banjo” Patterson OBE. He lived there with his Grandmother while attending Sydney Grammar school. (and Wendy, our Archibald Guide  “Banjo” Patterson’s portrait by John Longstaff was the winning portrait in 1935!

We  wandered into the 1830 Cottage to look around.  The cottage/restaurant along with the  surrounding garden area is beautifully kept and  well maintained.   The house overlooks Looking Glass Bay with its  attractive jetty from where we had views to Abbotsford with the Sydney Rowing Club in sight which brought back memories of another walk.   

From Looking Glass Bay we followed the path leading towards  Bedlam Point  which is adjacent to the grounds of old Gladesville Mental Hospital.  Here we found a less pristine area with morning glory spreading its vines, asparagus fern digging in everywhere,  weeds of every description entangled with the shore natural bush overlooked in places by massive shadowy Fiscus lining  the old stone walls. A thousand inmate ghosts swirled silently, sadly in the darkness of the branches above, wafting, watching us.    

Checking the map once again in an attempt to follow where our footsteps had led us it seems we saw little of Gladesville Mental Hospital complex itself  While we saw some  of the old buildings, there are yet many more to be seen in this sprawling space. What we did see though were some rather neglected and shored up old buildings while many other buildings have been taken over by a variety of medical and care related organisations. We came across part of the old sandstone wall which is heavily impressive. Many of the  buildings are, glad to say, on the National Register. 

While researching this area  I found a wonderful Picture Essay of the precinct which also informed that there is a mass grave of over 1000 unnamed inmates buried there, downed out of sight.  This seems a tragedy since we now know that people were often institutionalised unnecessarily.

We wound  back to Punt Road having peered over the old walls, found the old gate,  stepped over intrusive weeds while earlier we had  appreciated the well built steel walkway which guided us safely along the lower cliff walk above the little bays.  

To sum up - it was an excellent exploratory walk, so pretty with clean clear Parramatta River water in the bays below, a couple of tiny almost hidden beaches, oyster encrusted rocks, wrens and willie-wagtails adding  delight. 

We chose to drive to Hunters Hill “la Village" for coffee, a cafe which was more or less on the way homewards.

Walkers: Moira, Pippa, Marie-Claire, Carolle