Monday 23 September 2024 – It turned out that the plans that Lorraine and Paul had laid for our last full day in the Sydney environs involved going for a walk. Obviously. The plan was to walk from Manly to Spit Bridge – right circle to left circle

but not in a straight line; rather via the Clontarf headland. This was not a circular walk, so Paul drove us to Seaforth, just to the left of the left-hand circle, and we took the bus down into Manly. The buses, like the trains and the ferries are (a) cheap and (b) well-organised; using phone or card, one could just tap on and tap off, and the charge for the trip was Aus$1 – about 50p.

Clearly, to undertake the walk, we needed to be fortified by a robust breakfast. Fortunately, L & P had a plan for that, too; frukost på Fika – breakfast at Fika, a Swedish café in Manly. (Fika is a Swedish word to convey the idea of having comfy coffee and cake in a café)

I was particularly taken with the decor in the loo. A quick shout-out to Topaz photo software here. I didn’t realise at the time, but the photo I took of the decor was very out of focus (I was in a hurry and didn’t check the photo there and then as I didn’t want to be seen as as a man who takes photographs of toilets). Up to now, an out-of-focus original has been basically a lost photo, but with modern technology and processing power, errors from photographer incompetence can sometimes be rectified.

The building next to Fika is rather nicely turned out.

and there were a couple of other nice arty touches on our walk through the town

to Manly cove (the other side of the North Head peninsula from the famous Manly Beach).

The start of the walk offered a nice view across to South Head – you can see the Macquarie Lighthouse and the Signal Station.

One of the nice things about walking around these areas of Australian cities is the individuality of some of the houses;

another is coming across things that seem a little counterintuitive.

Apparently, they get Little Penguins here at some times of the year.  Not today, though.

The vegetation offered some excellent frames for the lovely views we saw as we walked.

One of the great things about Australian beaches is the routine inclusion of ocean pools to supplement the open water swimming available. This is the one at Fairlight Beach, the next one around from Manly Cove.

We came across a couple of fearless sulphur-crested cockatoos as we went along the trail;

for some reason they had markings on their backs

though we don’t know why.

The coastal path we were walking involves a lot of up and down, so I was glad that the weather was benign and not too hot. Climbs were rewarded with some great views across various parts of Sydney Harbour, as well as back towards the city.

At one stage, there were petroglyphs beside the path. Some were reasonably easy to comprehend;

some less so.

(Upside down kangaroo? Really?)

A well as scenery, there was wildlife to admire – a couple of Australian Water Dragons, of reasonable size.

(The one above was actually quite reluctant to get out of the way of the people walking the path, which I found unusual – normally, lizards shift themselves swiftly as humans approach.)

The up-and-down continued

as did the views, which had some sensational colours,

and we passed some formidable rock formations.

A very photogenic corner,

and two sorts of housing: spacious, refined, all mod cons

and less so.

Shortly afterwards, after all the ups and downs of the coastal path, we reached Spit Bridge

which was our planned destination. Trouble was, we were at sea level, and the car was

up 154 steps, so there was one more climb to do. The view at the top was worth it, though,

and you can see, on the right of the photo, that the Spit Bridge is a lifting bridge, something I didn’t know until today.

It was a great walk, just over 11km, or 7 miles,

and, as I say, quite up and down.

Normally, on a 7-mile walk, I’d use about 700 calories; this walk used over 1,200; but it had everything – sunshine, coffee, views, wildlife, historic petroglyphs and lots (and lots) of steps; an excellent day.

Tomorrow, we have to leave our friends in Belrose, but we head further north, to see friends in Brisbane. We have a few days there, so I’m hoping we might get to see some nice scenery and maybe some wildlife. Who knows what the coming days hold?