Not the Tassie Trip 2021

Last Christmas I ran a good portion of the Three Capes Track with my friend Iestyn, and so early this year, the "girls" (my 5:20 Chicks mates) and I had planned a trip down to Tassie in November to walk the route together over three days. Unfortunately Covid put paid to that idea as the Tassie border wasn't going to open until mid-December, but Margaret came up with a great alternative route for us to walk from the Central Coast down to La Perouse (south of Sydney). An added bonus of this route being closer to home was that all of the girls could now join for at least part of it, as logistics became much easier for those that couldn't leave their families for such a long time.

Setting off bright-eyed and bushy-tailed :-)

Down the trail from Bouddi

We met bright and early, loaded our overnight bags into Greg (Margaret's husband)'s car and set off on the first leg which was to walk from Bouddi National Park down to the ferry at Ettalong. We'd timed it so that Katie could hike down the to the ferry with us and then her husband could pick her up there (after school drop off), and Anna could do school drop off and then meet us at the ferry.....with enough "crossover time" for us all to enjoy coffee and muffins as a group at the dock.

Waiting for the ferry

Our "steed"awaits :-)

Masked up on the ferry

The ferry took us from Ettalong over to Palm Beach and, instead of heading south straight away, everyone kindly agreed to take a detour north as I'd never been up to Barrenjoey Lighthouse up on the tip of the headland....and it was definitely worth it, both for the views, and to see Krystie practicing her cartwheeling along the beach at the bottom (an "in joke" as her sister has finally made it back to Australia from the UK, so she'd promised us that she'd cartwheel for joy!!).

The view from the Lighthouse

On Barrenjoey Head

Cartwheel action!

We retraced our steps off the headland and onto the path south, pausing for photos at the "Summer Bay Surf Life Saving Club"....well, 2 of us had grown up in the UK with our knowledge of Australia being based on soap operas such as "Home and Away" (and we actually almost walked across a stretch of beach right as they were filming scenes).....and then onto Avalon for our lunch stop (and postprandial ice cream). 

Spot the Brits abroad...

Avalon Beach

Here come the girls..

The afternoon walk was much shorter and so it was only midafternoon by the time we met Greg and checked into the Newport Motel. It had a pool and was just across the road from a bottleshop so we "rehydrated" whilst soaking our feet, before changing into the "matchy-matchy" tops we'd got for the Tassie Trip and heading over to eat pizza in the outdoor beer garden....surrounded by twinkling white lights and looking over the water......a magical place!

Rehydrating at the pool

Matchy-matchy outfits!

Al Fresco dining

There is no rest for the wicked so we were up bright and early, with the longsuffering (he loves us really) Greg reloading his car whilst we walked down to Mona Vale for a delicious breakfast before hitting the coastal path and heading ever southwards. 

Mona Vale brekky

On the Coastal path

Julie waving at the chopper

We walked past various golfcourses, along beachside suburbs (yes...sampling ice cream and coffee at some of them), up and down headlands (getting a wave back from a helicopter crew that buzzed us at a lookout!!) and even wading little rivulets, but eventually made it to Manly and into the the Steyne Hotel just before the heavens opened.

Wading across a rivulet..

Approaching Manly

Lunch (and drinks) suddenly became rather rushed as Margaret looked up the times of the ferries from Manly to Watson's Bay and thought we could just make one if we dashed there.....but unfortunately it didn't seem to appear.....and so we investigated further.....and they only run on weekends!!

Lunch at the Steyne Hotel

This caused a slight rethink in our plans, as everyone had been going to walk from Watson's Bay to Coogee and have dinner together, with 4 of the group then heading home to the Central Coast. As the weather wasn't good and we couldn't get the ferry directly across the harbour, we ended up getting the ferry into Circular Quay, where Greg met us so the 4 of them could get their bags and go home directly from there, whilst he drove the rest of us on.

Our trusty feet parting ways!!

Saying goodbye to half the crew :-(

The 4 of us that were left decided that we shouldn't be total wooses and so declined the offer of a lift all the way to Coogee and instead Greg dropped us at Bondi to walk the final stretch. The Bondi-Coogee stretch is usually a very popular walk (or run) but the weather meant that we had most of it to ourselves and so felt very "hardcore"....and we certainly earnt our hot baths and cold drinks that evening!!

Soggy Bondi :-(

At least we had the path to ourselves....

Greg joined us for breakfast in Coogee on the final day but then left us to it and drove round to La Perouse. This was the most fascinating part of the whole walk for me, as Coogee was the furthest south I'd ever been on that stretch of coast. The final morning was also spent mostly on trails and boardwalks (and golf courses) so it felt like we were a long way from Sydney, even though we weren't. 

Coogee brekkie....yummmm!

Another empty golf course...

The wind meant that the golf courses were deserted (except for a the odd golfer who didn't believe that we'd walked all the way from the Central Coast until we started naming golf courses we'd passed en route :-) ) and the recent rain had stirred up some of the ground so that one section of trail smelt as if a bushfire had just rushed through it, though we could see it had been some considerable time since it due to all the regeneration. 

Evidence of previous bushfires

Some of the signs warning us about snakes and deaths in the areas were a bit perturbing (though I think the deaths were actually related to people fishing off the rocks and being swept away by huge waves rather than local poisonous fauna), as was the section when we walked through a cemetary to the sound of guns firing and lots of shouting (which it turned out to be a police exercise/target practice). 

The funny signs :-)

Police target practice

All in all we were glad to make it safely to our final destination (resulting in another cartwheel from Krystie), a delicious lunch and a lift home from the lovely Greg.......a fantastic unforgettable trip.....and we all agreed that we have to make it a regular thing :-)

Another Krystie cartwheel :-)

Celebrating the end!!