Scenic Walks, Sydney

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On my first morning in Sydney, I arrived at my hostel, exhausted, jet-lagged and in need of a shower. My room at the hostel wasn't ready yet, so I was recommended to talk a walk and explore. I was pointed to a path that took me along the Botanical Gardens. The name of the path was Mrs. Macquarie's Bushland Walk. There were plants that were transplanted along this route that were from the bushlands, in an effort the preserve the area's beauty.

It's a really nice walk. I started from Pott's Point, proceeded down a long flight of stairs and went past the Blu Hotel. The only sights I seen were the beauty of the flora and the occasional jogger. Once I walked around a sharp curve, the first major sight of Sydney greeted me. The Sydney Opera House! The Botanical Gardens were then within my reach. The fresh sea air from the harbor greeted me.

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The higher the better! A good address if you want to admire Sydney from the heights and save some $$$. The great views will cost you only the price of a drink of your choice... compare to the AU$ 25 of the Sydney tower without drink ;-) So head to Australian Square Tower (170 m high) designed by the famous Harry Seidlerand and climb up to the 47th floor... thanks to the lift. Take your comfy seat and order your favourite drink, the revolving bar floor will show you Sydney in every directions.
Hungry? The Summit Restaurant will welcome you with the same view or you could find a large food court at the ground floor.

Enjoy the 360 degrees great views... enjoy Sydney!

There are numerous National Park areas in Sydney, its surrounds, and New South Wales.

The NSW National Parks website (listed below) also includes information on Botanic Gardens, State Forests and other natural areas.

One of the groups of people under the most turmoil in Australia would have to be the Chinese. As immigrants to this country, they have gone through many years of battles for the right to immigrate to Australia, and still to this day are a bit segregated from the rest of the settlers to the new country. Deep in the heart of downtown Sydney however is a rich heritage of Chinese owned business, especially some delicious restaurants! Sarah and I walked through this part of town in search for some good lunch, and saw the difference between Chinese and British cultures. Definitely worth the walk, and worth the time to stop and have lunch.

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UM, I love to walk, what can I say. If you do too, you won't be dissappointed in Sydney. There are phenominal coastal trails. Take a ferry from Circular Quay to Mosman Bay, get off anywhere and start your walk toward Manly. Really...that is all I did. I had no map or idea what I was doing but I had a map of the ferry stops and figured I would just walk to the next ferry stop and ride back. I found some great coast trails and if there was not a trail, or if I wanted to see a bit of the neighborhood, I just climbed a few streets then headed back toward the coast and onto a trail. I hiked all the way to the zoo and past but had to head back to the zoo to catch the ferry back as it was getting dark. There is a trail that will take you all the way to Manly. Don't stop there either, keep walking because there are more trails in Manly. Don't do what I did and forget to take a map, no excuses because you can find printable maps at www.wildwalks.com (site below). Print and hike like mad!! Watch out for all the lizards sunning on the rocks.

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The Manly Scenic Walkway
This was a lovely walk, I think I heard about it through the Lonely Planet. After some searching around for the right bus, which takes you over the Sydney Harbour Bridge the bus driver stopped for me and told me where to start the walk (very friendly).
At first you walk over the bridge (or can get off at the other side, but I wanted to have a look) and are hit by the huge, expensive looking houses!
The walk is well sign posted throughout and you go buy some lovely secluded beaches, very tropical looking, you get wonderful views when you get up high of the city and the coastline, and all the boats bobbing around.
I passed some big lizards and the odd small snake, at the highest point there's some Aboriginal rock carvings to see, you can see why they carved them where they did; spectacular views.
You end up on the far side of Manly, a secluded fishing area then walk around to the main part.
It is 9kms and takes around 3-4 hours, be sure to take plenty of water and your bathers! Watch out for sharks, I read there's not been an attack for 35 years, but they could happen as around most of Australia.
If you don't want to walk back you can hop on the ferry to Darling Habour, make sure you get a nice cold beer on the Manly side first and watch the sun go down, as I did!

Take a ferry from Circular Quay to Wastons Bay, the view of Sydney Opera House and Harbour Bridge is great!

At Wastons Bay, do not miss The Gap which is just a few minutes walk from the ferry terminal, it is near the bus stop. The sea view with the cliffs is fantastic!

Get the ferry from Circular Quai to Manly. It's a beautiful boat trip. In Manly get a plan at the tourist office (right at the ferry wharf), walk up to the beach through the shopping street, and then back to the ferry wharf. There you start the Manly scenic walk, down to the Spit. It's a 10km walk, along the water, through the Sydney Harbour national park, along some beaches and bays. A really beautiful walk.
I did it twice: pics here and here

The best walk I have done so far is the walk from the Spit bridge to Manly. It is a fantastic walk through forests, over beaches and over rocks. You have some amazing lookouts at various stops along the way. At some point it really feels like you are in the middle of the Mediterranean. Clear blue greenish water, lots of sailing boats and yachts etc. Make sure you go out and do this walk on a sunny day during the weekend, because there will be much more happening on the water and on the beaches ;-)

To get to the Spit bridge just take bus 460 from Wynyard station and get out at the Spit bridge. Right opposite the stop you will find a kayak rental place. This might be cool to do aswell for a couple of hours, before you start the walk. To actually start the walk, cross the bridge and the continue walking under the bridge and that's where the start is.

The walk is very good signposted, so you don't need a map really. Just keep in mind the walk will take you along the water, so always keep the water in sight and you'll be fine. Have fun and let me know what you thought of it.

If you want to see some more pics and read some more about this track take a look at my Manly Scenic Walkway travelogue. Click on the link below to see a very detailed map of the walk.

I just thought this was the most beautiful view I saw.

The walk begins at the Sydney Opera house, following the signs to Mrs Macquaries Chair, and ends there.

I don't want to describe the walk as it is absolutely amazing. Its the best way to see Sydney, please take my word for it

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