Yesterday’s exploration started with Bonnie’s idea to go whale watching, and I suggested North Head to combine it with a short bush walk.  As always, the idea gained more scope with time and it turned out to be a great day with a large variety of adventures along the way.  On my way to Circular Quay to meet Bonnie I got off the train one stop early  again (at Milson’s Point) to walk across the harbour bridge, and then took a shortcut through The Rocks and stopped to see my favorite mural on Globe Street.   The top third of the mural is actually a metre behind the bottom two-thirds, as a stairway separates them.

Jack Mundey – by Vhils

After a light breakfast we caught the Manly Ferry.  It was a little chilly but otherwise a nice 30 minute ferry ride out to what I think is the best beach in the Sydney area.

Opera House from the Ferry

Mrs Macquarie’s Chair

Woolloomooloo Bay

Sydney CBD

Looking Back

Looking Ahead

South Head

North Head

Manly Wharf

Manly Beach was the starting point of today’s walk.  On such a cool day it was pretty much empty of swimmers, except for a few dedicated surfers.

Manly Beach

Manly Beach

From Manly, we continued Southeast along the coast to Shelly Beach.  There is a wide walkway between the two beaches with cafes along the way.

A View of Shelly Beach from Manly

Walkway to Shelly

Approaching Shelly Beach the walkway was closed due to damage from last weekend’s strong storm.  It appeared that part of the walk had been eroded away from the rain and storm surge.  The damage could also be seen in the buildings in the area.  We stopped for a coffee at a cafe that had severe damage, but was still serving customers.

Damaged Walkway

Damaged Building Near Shelly

Simple Beauty Among the Wreckage

Only in Australia

Detour to Shelly Beach

View of Manly from Shelly

Shelly Beach

From Shelly Beach we continued on a trail into the bush toward North Head.  But we seemed to come to a dead end in the trail when we reached a wall with a gated hole in the wall with a warning sign.

Speared Dog Warning?

Unfortunately we didn’t read the small faded wording at the top of the sign, and turned around thinking we miss a turnoff somewhere.  After going back about 200m and still not finding a turnoff we met two others who had the same problem and joined them in another attempt to find the right trail to North Head.  This time, when we came to the wall we took the time to read the entire sign and realized we just needed to push open the gate and duck through the hole in the wall.

Pond in North Head Sanctuary

Old Artillery Emplacement

Parade Grounds at the Barracks Precinct

We arrived at the Barracks Precinct and saw the Parade Grounds, this was an old army base, and I’ve been told that it was recently used for the set of a season of the Biggest Loser TV Show.  The next stop on our walk would be the Q-Station (Quarantine Station), that was first set up in the 1800’s for a ship that was infected with Small Pox.  It has been used over the years for quarantine during various epidemics such as the Plague and the Spanish Flu.  It was not entirely closed and turned into a museum until the 1980’s.

At the Q-Station

Q-Station Greenhouse

Stairs to the Museum

We returned to the trails of North Head Sanctuary stopping at several lookouts with great views of the harbour and surrounding area.

Sydney Harbour

Balmoral Beach

Grass Tree

Grated Trail

At 4 o’clock we reach our intended destination of Fairfax Outlook and attempted to spot whales in their annual migration past Sydney Harbour to warmer waters.  After a while of watching you tend to start to convince yourself that that strangely shaped wave over there is the top of a whale, or that the bird you see flying low along the water is following a whale.  But we did not have any certain siting of a whale while we were there.  But the views were fantastic and well worth the walk out.

South Head and Sydney Harbour

Sydney

South Head Cliffs

Bonnie at North Head

While we were at one of the lookouts we could hear a helicopter coming but couldn’t see it until it cleared the cliff to our right.  It was a police helicopter that appeared to be searching the edges of the cliffs.

Police Copter

Searching the Cliffs

It was a 45 minute walk back to Manly and we arrived just before sunset.

Fishing from the Rocks

Hanging Out on the Cliffs

Sunset over Manly

Manly Corso

The queue for the ferry back to Circular Quay was huge, and you had to get in line about 30 minutes prior to the ferry boarding time.  We were packed like sardines in the wharf area waiting for the boat.  When arriving back at Sydney the lights of Vivid Sydney were in full bloom.

Vivid Sydney

Opera House with Vivid Sydney Lighting