Manly to The Spit Walk – 14 August 2023

Showers were forecast, and understandably, some people had pulled out of the walk, but for the nine that remained – we had a fantastic day along the foreshore and bush of Sydney Harbour. And the only rain we had – was at the bus stop at The Spit. The walk was from Manly to The Spit, and was led by Brian Everingham for the National Parks Association of NSW.

We caught the ferry from Circular Quay to Manly. Passing the Opera House, we noticed a seal asleep on the steps. This is its usual resting place.

In the party was Brian, Valerie, Deb, Graham, Jenny, Neville, Bronwyn, Paul and myself.

At Manly, we were soon on our way – following the signposted Manly to The Spit Track. The first section is through parks and foreshore reserves. The coastal scenery is varied.

In the photo below you can see a series of dykes. These intrusions are very common along our coastline.

Here is a Little Egret –

We had one more section of beach to negotiate, then we would be in Sydney Harbour National Park.

it was nice to see a Swamp Wallaby –

Here is some Jelly Fungus –

We stopped for a rest and snack at Reef Beach.

Here is one of many Brush Turkeys we saw along the way –

We then climbed up onto Dobroyd Head for some nice views.

Laughing Kookaburra

New Holland Honeyeater

One side of the track had been burnt in a hazard reduction burn.

Here is a telephoto view of South Head –

The Wattle was in full bloom –

Here we are looking at Middle Head, where we had been a week before –

And we had a good view of the shacks at Crater Cove.

Little Wattlebird

More of Middle Head –

Epacris longiflora –

I think these may be insect galls –

We then had a look at the Dobroyd Boyd Aboriginal Site. There are some interesting engravings to see.

Kangaroo –

Emu –

Fish in a Whale –

Three Boomerangs –

From there, the track took us through a nice grove of Angophoras –

This is the small Castle Rock Beach –

We stopped at the Clontarf Beach Kiosk for lunch, and from there it was not far, past two small bays to the Spit Bridge.

As we crossed the bridge, it opened up to let through a yacht with a tall mask. This was interesting to see.

Then, as we were getting on the bus to Wynyard, it started to rain. We felt relieved to have had a dry walk considering all the rain falling in other parts of Sydney.

Thanks to Brian for leading the walk.