Manly Saturday

We walked part of the Manly - Spit Bridge walk this morning. That's a 19klm walk (return) normally which was a bit much for us today, so we took a few short cuts through Balgowlah, ending up at Clontarf Beach near Sandy Bay (not too far from the Spit) - a round trip of about 8.5 kms - more than enough for us today.

Our first harbour stop was Castle Rock Beach. We were rewarded with a glorious leafy descent on to the beach after navigating the very steep and long hill that is Woodland Street, through the suburb of Balgowlah.

Although Castle Rock Beach is tiny, the water is pristine and its forested entry lends it a very exotic (Amalfi Coast?) quality. 

I guess this might be Castle Rock in the middle of the pic below? ...... but that is defintely the iconic Balmoral Bathers Pavillion on the opposite side of the harbour, in the distance.

We walked along the Manly-Spit walking path between Castle Rock Beach and Clontarf Beach. It was spectacular of course but required care and good stair climbing stamina in places.

The Clontarf Beach Reserve was crowded this morning, popular with families with its clean, safe tidal pool and lots of shady trees (and plenty of car parking). We enjoyed our coffee from Bosk Clontarf here and a rest in the shade  for a while.

It was about a 4klm walk back to Fairlight Street from here. We walked back through streets of harbourside mansions until we got as far as Sydney Road, the main road into the Manly Peninsula with its heavier traffic and more pedestrian architecture. We did envy the views these residents enjoy from their fabulous houses along Gordon Street in beautiful Balgowlah (another steep climb for us). 

That was a rather inspiring and exerting way to start the day (and it took us 3 and a half hours too) so we took a low key approach to lunch today, only walking as far as Manly's Four Pines Brewery on the East Esplanade for a cooling ale and more grilled barramundi (its my fave dish at the moment!). Love Manly!!!