A few weeks realiser I had looked down this bit of coast from Barrenjoey. Despite being very developed it looked worthwhile exploring – so I decided to walk this section of the Coastal Walk.
Looking north from Bangalley Head
I got up early. It was forecast to be a hot day and I wanted to at least start in cooler conditions. So half past five train to Wynyard and then the L90 bus to Palm Beach. The bus leaves from Railway Square and I was surprised to find it very full by the time it got to Wynyard. I had to stand for about twenty minutes till it got to Dee Why.
I got out of the bus on the last stop – Palm Beach and walked down the beach to the rock pool. There is a walkway near there that takes you to a road higher up. This part of the Sydney Coastal Walk features a fair bit of street walking – and most of it is actually on the street rather than on a footpath. Bad, but at least there was not too much vehicle traffic.
Soo, I arrived at a path down to Whale Beach. This was a nice beach and I stopped for a swim at the rock pool. It was good to cool off.
Then up another path to the road once more and along it to the track going up Bangalley Head. This is a most impressive headland and the climb was rewarded with nice wildflowers and spectacular views. The huge sea cave under Careen Head was quite amazing.
The track continued down to Avalon Beach. I continued over the next headland to the quiet Bilgola Beach for another swim in the rock pool there.
Then over another headland, and more track walking to Newport Beach. No swim this time – but I did call in to the shops and grab a drink. From Newport, its a long climb along a road up the hill to Bungan Head. Then down to Bungan Beach and up the other side to Mona Vale Headland. This was a good place to stop for lunch – with good views to the north and south.
To the south I could see the Mona Vale rock pool – at the end of a spit. This was the next place I stopped for a swim. The spit separates Basin beach from Mona Vale Beach.
Then along Mona Vale Beach to Warriewood Beach – nice walking on the sand. The tide was low so I could walk from one beach to the other at the low level.
The next headland is Turimetta Head. I was pleasantly surprised to spot a nice fat Blue Tongue Lizard laying in the sun on the pathway. On the head were great views looking north and in the foreground was an interesting blowhole. This would be a good place to come back to at dawn for a photo shoot.
One more headland to go. It was to the south of the next beach – Turimetta Beach. I avoided the beach this time – staying on the road. Beach walking was becoming too hot!
Another nice track leads up to Narrabeen Head and the climb up is worthwhile – more great views, particularly to the south. Narrabeen Lagoon and Beach look quite interesting – and will have to be explored on another walk.
I left the headland and walked down to Barrenjoey Road and the L90 back to the city.
More photos from this walk can be viewed here.