South Head to Woolloomoolo
Warrane Wanderings: The Complete Sydney Harbour Foreshore Walk
Day 1- South Head to Woolloomooloo
Like all great travellers I have seen more than I remember and remember more than I have seen. Benjamin Disraeli
Started my Warrane wanderings today. Hoping to do all of the foreshore of Warrane-Sydney Harbour without using any bridges or artificial water crossings – from the Heads to the Headwaters and back. With a fair bit of wandering around and backtracking to get out to every bit of shoreline, it was about 20 km and took me 8 hours (including a couple of swims and plenty of rest and reflection stops. A gorgeous spring day in Sydney. Just made for sauntering!
It was a good omen starting out with the full moon setting over the northern shores of the harbour and out to the Hills District where the headwaters are – perhaps 7 or 8 days of walking away.
South Head is always glorious at sunrise. It’s such a dramatic ocean-to-harbour transition as you walk back to Lady Bay (clothing optional) Beach and down to ever so perfect Camp Cove. The old military fortifications seem to blend into the environment – their sandstone cut blocks now become ‘part of the furniture.
Drank in the spectacular views across to Middle and North Heads – almost looking within swimming distance – but walking without bridges, they will be more than a fortnight away
After the sheltered waters of Camp Cove, and a quick squiz at the wholly unremarkable monument that commemorates the spot where the First Fleet spent their first night on these shores, I enjoyed Watsons Bay village – now so different from the days when it was a collection of fisherfolk shacks.
From there it was around to ‘almost-disappeared-with-the-high-tide' Kutti Beach before a stroll around Parsley Bay. Love the Parsley Bay Pedestrian Bridge as a rule, but my #WarraneWandering rule kicked in so I walked around the foreshore park.
A bit of road walking through Vaucluse, past what used to be the millionaire mansions but are now probably the billionaire ones. Well-named Bottle and Glass Point and then oh-so-lovely Neilsen Park. Just had to have a swim as the early morning coolness gave way to the heat of the day.
A quick diversion up to beautiful Vaucluse House (the home of Wentworth of crossing the Blue Mountains fame) and then it was on to the hiking highlight of the day – the Hermitage Foreshore Walk – if you haven’t done this incredible walk yet just do it – perfect views, tiny hidden beaches, quirky nuns’ cemeteries and just a whole lot of Sydney magnificence. Milk Beach, Tingara Beach Hermit Bay, Queens Beach, the swims that come with zillion dollar views. All that and more in a few kms of perfection - albeit with quite a few steps.
You end the walk not far from Rose Bay and its still operational seaplane base – once the home of Sydney’s second ‘airport’. From there it is around to Point Piper and tiny Lady Martins Beach before another great harbour swimming option at the Murray Rose Redleaf netted baths.
Out to Darling Point with its many National Trust houses, and then other worldly McKell Park – the perfect spot for a picnic, especially on a weekday. It’s behind Darling Point Wharf, so you could combine your picnic with the double pleasure of a ferry ride.
Next, it was around to Yarranabbe Park and Rushcutters Bay before transiting through my favourite Australian place – Woolloomooloo (more about that tomorrow) to end up at Kings Cross station for the ride home.
I’d done this walk (in reverse) earlier in the year - part of my Dreamtime to Eden coastal walk (published in the October issue of Bushwalk magazine, which will be out in a few days. It surprised me today how different it felt going in the opposite direction. The Harbour is just so jaw-droppingly magnificent that just being near it is a tonic to the soul. The playwright David Williamson’s line ‘that nobody questions the meaning of life in Sydney – it’s getting yourself a water frontage’ still rings true. But put a sandwich in your pack, fill up your thermos and you can have it all for free!