Walking on the Edge

One of the first photos we took – just to prove we were here. There was no concert on in the Opera House while we were there, so we didn’t go inside.

We made it to Australia!

We are grateful that we got in shape for our adventure by taking 3-6 mile walks each day in Durham for several months before we left. But our legs and feet are still sore from the walking we have done in the past few days.

After walking approximately 7 miles on our last day in Hawaii (going to the nature reserve on the far western point of Oahu) we covered another 5 or 6 miles on our only full day in Sydney.

“The Gap” — the entrance to Sydney Harbor, Australia

Based on recommendations from our Servas friend Ulli in Hawaii and our Servas host Isla in Sydney, we skipped the expensive harbour tours. Instead, we walked down to Circular Quay and took a ferry across the placid waters of Sydney Harbour to Watson’s Bay, location of the oldest European fishing village in Australia. We opted to take the short, 1 km walk to the Watson’s Bay lighthouse where you can see “The Gap” – the narrow, cliff-bound entrance from the Tasman Sea into Sydney Harbor. The view from the lighthouse makes it clear why many lighthouses were needed along this part of the coast – the sheer cliffs and pounding waves would be deadly for shipwrecked sailors. Along the way we stopped repeatedly to try to identify the new birds we were seeing everywhere, and we also took the steep steps down to Lady Beach, where we managed to get into the chilly water knee-deep before retreating.

We returned to the Watson’s Bay Harbour for a wonderfully greasy, satisfying lunch of fish & chips –  despite obnoxious gulls brave enough to tear a piece of fish out of my fingers when I inadvertently paused with my hand halfway to my mouth. (We let them at the fish & chips box when we were full and there was only a few chips left. What a melee that caused!  https://photos.app.goo.gl/THIlONojbzCa2h602 )

A portion of the cliff walk in Sydney.  We weren’t joking about walking along the edge!

Then we decided to hike the cliff walk.  It is a stunning trek, with the path usually only a meter or so from the edge of the precipice down to the ocean. It took us past parks and around some elegant homes perched on the precipice, as well as past some really ugly apartment buildings with grand views. It was an interesting way to see different parts of Sydney. It was also longer than we expected! We could have taken a bus for the final part, but we continued on foot and eventually made it to the lovely crescent of Bondi Beach, where we gratefully sat down with a large Ginger Ale and watched the beginning surfers.

After a bus ride back to our host’s house and a cup of tea, we took off on foot once again to walk to the Sydney Conservatory of Music for a free recorder quartet concert.

On our walk there we again we realized that the two dimensional maps of Sydney do nothing to prepare you for the ups and downs of the hills that bound the harbor – particularly when you find you can’t take the shortcut through the Botanic Gardens because the sun has set and have to backtrack!  Flights of steps to get from one road down to the next; steps to get up to the walkway across the highway; hills to go up and over in the park – it was a fast walk there, a slower walk home, and we were happy to kick off our shoes at the end of the long day and give our feet a rest!