MONTHLY RECAP – SEPTEMBER AND OCTOBER, 2021
A recap of my adventures in the months of September and October, 2021
Spring arrived on The Northern Beaches and I continued to get out and about during lockdown. Warmer weather and longer days meant I could walk later into the evening. Then lockdown ended in October (over 100 days done!) and we were finally able to venture further than our local council area.
Read on for some Spring adventures…
NEWPORT TO BILGOLA WALK
I kept up my lockdown walking adventures each week. The Newport to Bilgola Beach walk is only about 3km return, but it’s very scenic and has two sets of stairs to climb. You could also continue the walk in either direction along the beaches or over the headlands.
LAKE SUNSETS
Another month, another walk around Narrabeen Lake. If you park at the south end late in the afternoon you are in the best spot to catch the sunset over the water. It’s a really peaceful time to be walking.
CHURCH POINT FLOWERS
I regularly walk from Bayview to Church Point and back, a nice flat path that winds around Pittwater. On this particular day, the flowers were in bloom and we even spied a king parrot amongst the trees. So lucky to have such lovely flora and fauna around us on the Northern Beaches!
LONG REEF HEADLAND
Its only taken me three and a half years of living on the Northern Beaches to do the infamous Long Reef Headland walk! Its a popular 3km circuit, taking you along past the beach, weaving up the headland to the highest point and back past the golf club. At the most eastern point there is a path down to a mini headland, which is famous for night sky photography, stars all lit up against a background of the small headland and ocean.
The day we ventured out was warm and sunny, a perfect September day. Afterwards we rewarded ourselves with gelato!
FARMERS MARKETS
Again, it seems lockdown has forced me to finally live like a local and tick off some Northern Beaches essentials. This time I heaed to the Mona Vale farmers market one sunny Sunday morning. I even put on a nice dress and make up! Unheard of during the cold lockdown winter. The markets had all the usual local and organic goods – fruits, vegetables, bread, homemade condiments and freshly squeezed juices.
There were a few hit and miss purchases but it was a pleasant Sunday morning all the same. I’ll make sure to visit again!
NARRABEEN PICNIC
After many, many weeks of no socialising, we were finally allowed to meet up outside for recreational purposes. Since the weather was getting warmer I met a few friends at Narrabeen beach for a socially distanced, late afternoon picnic. I even made hygiene safe personal cob dips for everyone!
FRENCHS CREEK TRACK AND THE CASCADES
Once school holidays arrived I organised some more social outdoor activities. A friend and I did the Frenchs Creek track in Frenchs Forest down to the Cascades, part of Gadigal National Park. We packed lunch and snacks and meandered the 4 km down to the cascades, a series of flowing pools of water where many tracks meet in the centre of the National Park.
Along the track you hear the sound of running water as you pass Frenchs Creek. You could bush bash your way down to see some waterfalls, but we couldn’t quite figure it out, and were not able to actually get to the bottom of the falls. As you climb lower, the bush gets lush and green before meeting a fire trail to the cascades.
The cascades rock pools were not very full the day we visited, but there were lots of people picnicking and resting by the pools, with kids exploring the rocks. It was a lovely place, and we even saw a large lizard, possibly a goanna resting on a tree. Only in the Aussie bush!
DUNDUNDRA FALLS AND LAROOL TRAIL
One wet weekday I set off to find Dundundra falls in Terrey Hills. I am still getting used to the idea of bushwalking by myself, it really is peaceful and meditative (especially in the rain) but I also feel slightly ill at ease being all alone in the bush. Luckily I survived this trip without incident! I followed Hiking the World’s instructions to find the waterfall via the main path (not teh advanced path of following the creek) and only lost the track slightly on the way back up.
Thankfully the track is signposted and there is red ribbon on the trees to follow. After following a ridge their is a slight decline to the falls.
There was not much water in the falls after a dry month, but they were very picturesque in the rain. And I had the whole place to myself!
After the waterfall loop I continued along the Larool Trail fire trail in search of some Aboriginal engravings. They were hard to find, not signposted from the road, and the long grass had me fearing any snakes that might appear! But I channelled Eva Zubeck’s motto – ‘the world belongs to the brave‘ and headed futher into the bush on what I thought was a path to find the sacred site.
The engraving site is spread across some large rocks and the marks were quite prominent. The well endowed man, next to the kangaroo could be a depiction of Baiame, an Aboriginal creator god associated with his two wives and the initiation ceremony for boys into manhood.
EXPLORING THE CENTRAL COAST
Lockdown ends! Hooray! We can leave our Local Government Area! We can only travel in Greater Sydney but we were so excited we almost packed our passports. The first free weekend, The Artist and I headed up to explore the NSW Central Coast. October was putting on some sparkly weather and we visited a few beachside suburbs. We even hit up a few local beaches too.
We loved the expanse of Wamberal beach, seen here with the lagoon backing onto the sand. A patrolled beach with decent waves.
While The Artist likes Wamberal and the waves, I like the easy and gentleness of Umina Beach, picutred above, protected from the big surf as it forms part of Broken Bay. A popular sea change location, Umina has become trendy over the last few years, and property continued to rise in price.
So that was a recap of September and October! Lots of outdoorsy time, thanks lockdown, watch the door on the way out! Thankfully wearly Spring was enhanced by good weather and the beginning of daylight savings.
I look forward to some more exciting adventures in the next few months as freedom returns!
