Our departure from New Zealand was pleasant. Day 15 was filled with a leisurely ride
to a hotel located near Auckland airport and after checking in; we headed into
Auckland for a visit. Nothing really stood out in our exploration of Auckland.
Spent some time exploring the extensive marina area, found a dockside pub with a happy hour, to
watch the world go by. Then back to the hotel, early to bed, and an early
up on Day 16 to catch our 3 hour flight to
Sydney.
Sydney is a big city with just around 4 ½ million citizens. Nonie
and I always approach a visit to a new city with a desire to see it on
foot. The city looks a lot different from the ground then from the omnipresent Hop On, Hop Off buses that can be found in most
large cities. The buses do provide itineraries which make a great resource to places for us to walk or take public transit to.
The wiki definition of urban hiking is an “active walk taken
in an urban environment that goes through parks, uses stairwells, crosses
intersections, and meanders through the city's obstacles of life.” Sydney Harbour Bridge was full of walkers today. For me, the
beauty of urban hiking is that you are never to far from toilets, shopping,
pubs and restaurants if you properly plan your trek. If you get tired, public
transportation should never be far away. Sydney seems like it could be an urban hikers dream.
Finding urban hikes can be as simple as Googling “urban hikes "fill in the large city”. Doing this for Sydney, coughed up four interesting hikes. We only have five full days to discover all the Sydney has to offer as well as catch up with old friends, we have not seen in over 20 years. Our “to do” list was a full one. To be fair to the definition of urban hiking, one of the hikes was into the Blue Mountains, only a short 90 minute train ride from Sydney. Not so urban but that didn't mean we didn't have any stairs to climb.
Finding urban hikes can be as simple as Googling “urban hikes "fill in the large city”. Doing this for Sydney, coughed up four interesting hikes. We only have five full days to discover all the Sydney has to offer as well as catch up with old friends, we have not seen in over 20 years. Our “to do” list was a full one. To be fair to the definition of urban hiking, one of the hikes was into the Blue Mountains, only a short 90 minute train ride from Sydney. Not so urban but that didn't mean we didn't have any stairs to climb.
Day 17- Hike #1-
Sydney-City-Walk-
10 kilometres
10 kilometres
Sydney Opera House- The opera house is the most iconic of
all Sydney images. It is over 45 years old and still looking good.
The Royal Botanic Gardens are located in the city centre. A wonderful place to stroll with magnificent views of the opera house and Sydney Harbour Bridge in the background.
The views of the harbour and the Rocks from the Sydney Harbour Bridge were awesome.
Day 18- Hike #2- Bondi to Coogee Coastal Walk
6.5 kilometres
Travel to Bondi Beach involved a train, a subway and a bus giving us a grand tour of Sydney. From here we would be walking to Coogee Beach.
You cannot go to Bondi without getting some sand in your toes and renting a couple of beach chairs for a little chill time. . The weather was cloudy so sun burn was not a problem with plenty of opportunity for some wind chill.
The waves were big and the water cold making for a very short swim.
Like any good urban trek, the walk to Coogee had stairs,
multi-coloured sandstone cliffs that have been artistically eroded by wind and waves,
those same waves that sometimes crashed over the trail splashing us with cold, salty water.
When we got bored with the ocean views, we could admire the million dollars homes that are found along the trail.
Day 20- Hike #3- Blue Mountains
15 kilometres combined
The Blue Mountains are easily accessible by trains that make the trip ever hour or so from Sydney, but today we were joined and driven by our friend.
Our first hike was an up close and intimate visit to the Three Sisters.
In keeping up with our theme of urban hiking, there were lots and lots and lots
and lots of stairs that moved you intimately around the Sisters.
Tips for neophyte urban hikers. "What you go down, you must go up."
A hike into Katoomba Falls was next on the agenda.
No stairs but some tricky trails.
The attached picture was borrowed from BestSydneyWalks. The area was recovering from a long period of drought so the falls were under whelming at best. They are supposed to be quite awesome after a rainfall.
Our last stop was a short hike to view 500-1600 year old Aboriginal hand prints. Quite impressive. They looked as if they had just been placed there yesterday.
It was the end to a glorious day!
You cannot go to Bondi without getting some sand in your toes and renting a couple of beach chairs for a little chill time. . The weather was cloudy so sun burn was not a problem with plenty of opportunity for some wind chill.
The waves were big and the water cold making for a very short swim.
Like any good urban trek, the walk to Coogee had stairs,
multi-coloured sandstone cliffs that have been artistically eroded by wind and waves,
those same waves that sometimes crashed over the trail splashing us with cold, salty water.
When we got bored with the ocean views, we could admire the million dollars homes that are found along the trail.
Day 20- Hike #3- Blue Mountains
15 kilometres combined
The Blue Mountains are easily accessible by trains that make the trip ever hour or so from Sydney, but today we were joined and driven by our friend.
Our first hike was an up close and intimate visit to the Three Sisters.
In keeping up with our theme of urban hiking, there were lots and lots and lots
and lots of stairs that moved you intimately around the Sisters.
Tips for neophyte urban hikers. "What you go down, you must go up."
A hike into Katoomba Falls was next on the agenda.
No stairs but some tricky trails.
The attached picture was borrowed from BestSydneyWalks. The area was recovering from a long period of drought so the falls were under whelming at best. They are supposed to be quite awesome after a rainfall.
Our last stop was a short hike to view 500-1600 year old Aboriginal hand prints. Quite impressive. They looked as if they had just been placed there yesterday.
It was the end to a glorious day!
Day 19- Hike #4- Spit Bridge to Manly Walk
10 kilometres
The trek starts at Spit Bridge wanders along the coastline across from Sydney Harbour with million dollar mansions, ancient Aboriginal sites, climbs into the dry heathlands and finishing in the cute little suburban town of Manly polished off with ferry ride back to downtown Sydney.
10 kilometres
The trek starts at Spit Bridge wanders along the coastline across from Sydney Harbour with million dollar mansions, ancient Aboriginal sites, climbs into the dry heathlands and finishing in the cute little suburban town of Manly polished off with ferry ride back to downtown Sydney.
After a gusty crossing of Spit Bridge, the trail turned into a narrow squeezy walk under an imposing sandstone cliff.
For the next several kilometres we were blessed with great views of the Pacific, million dollar architecture and tiny, intimate and uninhabited beaches that screamed out to us to get naked and go for a swim. What happens on tiny, intimate beaches stays on tiny, intimate beaches.
From the shore, we climbed up into the hills and onto the heathlands above Manly. Here , it was dry and crispy, very different from the shoreline.
Climate change has affected the areas around Sydney much like the problems we are starting to see here in the Okanagan. Our spring weather has become dryer and hotter setting up the danger of forest fires in the heat of the summer. To reduce the danger, the Australians carry out controlled burns in the cooler months to reduce the flammable material. On this trail, one side was green while the other was blackened and burnt. An interesting juxtaposition.
Along the way we found graffiti carved by aboriginals over a 1,000 years ago. The area is not protected from the environment so it is amazing that the carvings are still visible.
Our final destination was the holiday town of Manly, inhabited with tourists, restaurants, pubs, beaches and a ferry that would get us back to downtown Sydney in 25 minutes.
Small challenge upon our return to Sydney. The winds were high and along with a parked cruise ship with its motors running, created strong cross currents of wind and water, making it difficult for the ferry to line up on its berth giving us extra time to enjoy our last view of the harbour.
Day 21- Our last day in Sydney saw us moving to a hotel next to the train station in Sydney. We had a very early departure by train for Brisbane. A lovely dinner with our friends and early to bed.
A special thanks to Slee and Tao for their great hospitality.
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