A shore thing in Sydney

Sydney Harbour is blessed with enough bush, beaches and bustle-free areas to give walkers that elusive sense of being alone in their own subtropical wonderland, writes LAURA SLATTERY

IT’S SO CLOSELY identified with its two dominant landmarks that the natural beauty of Sydney Harbour, aka Port Jackson, is sometimes overlooked. But the reason why its many-headed, multi-contoured foreshores is such a special place for walking has little to do with either the impressive single-span of Sydney Harbour Bridge or the robotic hair tufts of Sydney Opera House.

The place that its first colonial explorer Capt Arthur Phillip called “the finest harbour in the world” is still blessed with enough bush, beaches and bustle-free stretches to give walkers that elusive sense of being alone in their own subtropical wonderland even as the skyscraper clusters of the CBD (central business district) shimmer just a few kilometres away.

I love rambling around the richly verdant Sydney Harbour perhaps even more than I love the overgenerous ratio of caramel to biscuit in the city’s cafe confectionery, and almost as much as I love spending time with my Sydney-based family.

Four of the five walks described here are harbour walks that begin by catching a ferry from the paved, semi-circular tourist hub of Circular Quay. The Manly, Mosman and Watsons Bay services are all public transport ferries used by Sydney commuters and day-trippers alike (and are not to be confused with the guided sightseeing cruise ships). For AUS$5.30-$6.60 (€3.85-€4.80) per one-way adult ticket, they’ll take you to the harbour wharfs that act as gateways to numerous potential walking routes.

Manly to The Spit via Dobroyd Head

Australians would laugh at such a rookie error, but the first time I took the 30-minute ferry to Manly, I thought Manly Beach was the modest strip of sand you see to the left as the ferry docks at Manly Cove. This is in fact Wharf Beach, and it marks the starting point for a challenging walk of varied terrain known as the Manly Scenic Walkway.

Indeed, the first 2km of this 9km route is a smooth, wheelchair-accessible path, but it soon veers into woodland, where the vibrancy of the seaside resort is swiftly replaced by the hum of wildlife. After a while, even the flat-stomached joggers will thin out.

Beyond a couple of beach crossings, the route enters a harsh scrub where your only company is likely to be the lizards that pause, arch and scatter. This is Dobroyd Head, part of Sydney Harbour National Park, which in fact comprises several separate pockets of preserved bushland around the harbour. Any trauma caused by the ascent here should be compensated for by the views of North Head, South Head and the sapphire ocean in between.

The track, partially shaded by Sydney red gums, eventually eases into wooden walkways that descend to Castle Rock cove. Clontarf Beach is where civilisation returns in the form of picnic benches, sailing boats and what’s likely to be a much-needed water bubbler. The Spit, a bascule bridge that allows ships pass into Middle Harbour, is the finishing point and the place where several buses stop en route to the city.

Manly to North Head

Manly sits atop the narrow sand-spit that formed when North Head ceased to be an island as a result of longshore drift. It was developed as a leisure resort in the 1850s by an Englishman, Henry Gilbert Smith, who saw the potential of its sandy harbour cove on one side (where the ferry docks) and the ocean beach on the other.

The 5km route from East Esplanade to the outermost point of North Head is probably better suited to motorists than pedestrians as much of it involves walking along a road called the North Head Scenic Drive – the clue is in the title. But, for me, the views from the lookout points at North Head, in particular those on the Fairfax Walk loop track, are the most breathtaking in the harbour. Along the way, you may also catch a glimpse of Sydney’s Quarantine Station – infected ship passengers were once dumped at Quarantine Bay to prevent the spread of disease in the fledgling colony.

On the return journey, head back into Manly via Darley Road and connect to the path that leads to the surf- and scuba-friendly Shelly Beach. The walk is completed by a rocky route to the long, slender yellow beauty that is Manly Beach, lined with Norfolk Island pine trees planted in Smith’s time and dotted with the more recent additions of volleyball courts and lifeguard shacks. The Corso, a pedestrian plaza blessed with outdoor eateries and sportswear shops, links Manly Beach back to Manly Cove.

Cremorne to Chowder Bay via Taronga

Cremorne Point, the first stop on the Mosman ferry service, is the start of this mostly gentle 10km route. An undemanding 2.5km path bends from upscale Cremorne to Mosman Bay – essentially a pretty parking place for sailing boats – as the strains of Sydneysiders tending to home improvements punctures the peace.

At Mosman Bay wharf, there’s a steep climb through a residential area to Curraghbeena Point, then a blissful descent to Little Sirius Cove. The foreshore track that lies beyond – the subject of a bush regeneration scheme on my last visit – contains a diversion down to the remote, bush-enveloped Whiting Beach, which you are very likely to have to yourself. Once you’ve finished doing cartwheels along its shores for the benefit of any harbour-crossing binocular-watchers, continue to Taronga Zoo.

Here, there is an option to either return to Circular Quay by ferry or spend the rest of the day hanging with koalas – $43 (€30) for an adult, $21 (€15) for children. Taronga is Aboriginal for “water view”, which gives a fair indication of the beauty of the zoo’s location – enter via the Sky Safari cable car and start animal-gawping at the top of the hilly site.

Otherwise, swing round the bend and take the bushy corridor to Bradleys Head, where an amphitheatre serves as a harbour lookout, picnic spot and popular wedding venue. It’s a mucky, tricky scramble down to the rocks of Chowder Head, while the main path emerges at Chowder Bay, where a boardwalk leads to welcome refreshment kiosks and the 244 bus stop.

Watsons Bay and South Head

Fish, naked bodies, men in uniform and a tragic sense of despair – this walk encompasses them all. Let’s begin with the fish, as the ferry won’t yet have docked before visitors to Watsons Bay will have spotted its major attraction: Doyle’s seafood restaurant, the kind of place that gets called a “Sydney institution” in guidebooks, so if you fancy lunch, make a reservation. Alternatively, Doyle’s also runs a less pricey but tasty takeaway next to the wharf.

The walk to South Head and back (about 5km) encompasses the historic beach of Camp Cove, where Phillip, unhappy with Capt Cook’s decision to settle at the exposed Botany Bay, first arrived in Port Jackson. As the track resumes, be prepared for a flash of Speedo-free bodies through the scrub below – this is Lady Bay, an official nude beach since 1976.

The return from the headland circuit passes the naval base of HMAS Watson, staffed by marines clad in crisp white. The signs then point to Gap Bluff, a notorious suicide spot on the ocean side of the headland. A climb up the steps to the vertiginous Gap reveals why, as the Pacific waves crash and foam fiercely on the jutting rocks below.

Here, a walkway ascends to Macquarie Lighthouse, at which point either return to the wharf or continue along a part-coastal, part-suburban route that leads, 8km later, to Bondi.

Bondi to Coogee

Unlike the walks above, this popular 6km Sydney walk is not a harbour walk, but a coastal cliff route of such gratuitous gloriousness that it’s certainly worth the effort it takes to get to Bondi from the city centre (via a train to Bondi Junction, and then a bus to the beach itself).

The Eastern Beaches Coastal Walk, as it’s officially known, runs from the famous horseshoe of Bondi to the equally golden Coogee Bay. Along the way, the rollercoaster path curves and dips onto several beaches, making toe-dipping opportunities plentiful if the ocean breeze isn’t enough to keep your body temperature down.

At the southern end of the beach, near the Bondi Icebergs Club, a concrete pathway twists up and around the cliff to the first of many spectacular views. After the relatively prosaic bucket-and-sand vistas at the grass-backed beaches of Tamarama and Bronte, the looming sight of a rugged cliff top dotted with headstones will seem incongruous, and yet here it is: Waverley Cemetery. The graves are so overwhelmed by the majesty of sun and sea in this unexpected location that they lose any eerie, gloomy dimension.

Another highlight of the walk is Clovelly Bay, a narrow cleft in the coastline that acts as a long, sheltered seawater pool.

The walk terminates at the beach suburb of Coogee, from which several buses make a return journey to the CBD. Back in the city, the near-permanent shadow of high-rises puts an end to any further skin damage – for one day anyway.

* wildwalks.com

* walkingcoastalsydney.com.au

* manlyaustralia.com.au