Category: Jo’s Monday Walk

I’ll let Jo explain: “It’s not a challenge, you see. Walking is one of the great pleasures of my life. Ever since I began my blog I have enjoyed introducing people to new places, and the walks are another way to do it. Many of them are local and well known to me in my north east of England home. Others are a bit more exotic. So, how does it work? Every week I will publish a walk on a Monday. If for any reason I can’t make it, I will let you know. When the walk is published, anyone is welcome to leave a link in my Comments, to any walk that they have taken. It doesn’t have to be on a Monday. It can be at any time and of any duration. The amount of detail/photos, etc. is up to you. Free and easy, you see?”

Home and Away

Palm Beach is the northernmost beach suburb of Sydney. A mere 2 hour bus ride from the CBD brings you to the location of the Aussie soap opera “Home and Away” known as Summer Bay.

I first came here 16 years ago, pretty much to the day, with my daughter and her partner when we visited Sydney for the first time in order to attend the christening of my first grandchild. It is a breathtaking location.

On my first visit we took the trail up to Barrenjoey lighthouse which was quite a clamber up the cliff. This time I looked for the road – then very rough and bumpy – now resurfaced.

Cockatoo

Before I headed up to the lighthouse I treated myself to lunch at the Boathouse, a restaurant on the edge of Barrenjoey beach on the Pittwater.

The food is expensive and not all that great, but the glass of Sauvignon Blanc and the view more than made up for that and I was celebrating my daughter’s birthday, even though, disappointingly, she wasn’t with me this time.

Walking along the shoreline was like walking in bath water, it was so warm, in contrast to the windier surf of the Pacific Ocean.

The road wound its way up the rocky outcrop to Barrenjoey lighthouse, with the views I was looking for. Unfortunately the lighthouse is under renovation so I was unable to go inside, but I felt a sense of achievement having got to the top once again!

The boathouse from Barrenjoey lighthouse

The views from the top are well worth the effort it takes to climb up there, even in extreme heat.

and on the way back to the bus stop I was incredibly lucky to see a kookaburra sitting on a pole posing for photographs.

If you enjoy a walk, short or long, then you may enjoy visiting Jo’s Monday Walk where you are in for a treat.

Dee Why Lagoon

Today (Friday 21 November) was forecast to be one of the hottest November days in Sydney. 40 degrees centigrade. Fortunately it didn’t peak that high, but at 10 am it was 38 degrees and warm enough. By 3 pm I was fed-up of being indoors so set out for the beach at Dee Why, a mere 5 minute walk away. I took a book and headed for shade near the sea swimming pool at the south end of the beach. After an hour, I decided that it was cool enough in the breeze to head off for a walk along the beach. Walking on the sand is very good for rough heels. 🙂

I kept to the edge of the surf as I headed towards the metal pole featured in my previous post, stopping occasionally to see if I could spot a surfer. At the post I headed up into the sand dunes which were apparently once 20 metres high, and found a trail that led to the lagoon, once home to black swans, but sadly no more. Within moments the roar of the ocean was left behind and only birdsong could be heard in the stillness surrounding the lagoon.

A trail leads around the lagoon to Long Reef Beach where a couple of weeks ago I watched school-kids learn to paddle surf. When the sea is cut off from the lagoon, as today, you can walk over to a boardwalk and up the Dee Why headland for 360 degree views. I opted to give this a miss and made my way back to the edge of the surf to walk back along Dee Why beach back to the Strand, letting the sea breeze caress my skin.

It did occur to me to put my sandals back on and also keep an eye out for snakes. I have no idea if there are any around here, but since Australia has the most poisonous snakes in the world it makes sense to be careful.

I’m still amazed to see so many Aussies lying out in the sun without shade. Hardly anyone wears a hat, even children! I feel like a right tourist in mine!

‘Slip, Slop, Slap! It sounds like a breeze when you say it like that Slip, Slop, Slap! In the sun we always say ‘Slip, Slop, Slap!’

Slip, Slop, Slap! Slip on a shirt, slop on sunscreen and slap on a hat Slip, Slop, Slap! You can stop skin cancer – say: ‘Slip, Slop, Slap!’

What happened?

Has the ozone hole healed up?

It certainly doesn’t feel like it.

Perhaps they need to reinstate this advert!

Arrived back to a very warm flat, but a nicely chilled New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc that I had popped into the freezer before I left.

If you enjoy a walk, short or long, then you may enjoy visiting Jo’s Monday Walk where you are in for a treat.

A Walk in the Blue Mountains

Last week we took a train from Sydney up into the Blue Mountains Region. It didn’t look very promising as we set out from Central Station amidst grey skies and high humidity. As we passed the soulless western suburbs of the city seemingly full of business parks and car lots, it struck me how awful arriving in any city by train can be. After an hour though we started climbing and then went through the more picturesque suburbs of Emu Plains, Warrimoo and Bullaburra – you have to love the Australian names. Arriving in Katoomba we found the bus to take us to Echo Point and The Three Sisters lookout. As we stepped out of the bus the cloud broke and the sun pierced it’s way through and the full weight of the heat struck us.

Views

Scenic World

Bottlebrush

Blue haze

Three Sisters

After admiring the views for a while I decided to head off on one of the bush trails past Kedumba View which looks out over the Kedumba River to Mount Solitary. It was too hot already to contemplate the longer, more arduous boardwalk you can access from over at Scenic World, but I think you’ll find that even on a shortish walk (40 mins one way) there is a lot to see.

The trail to Kedumba View

Blossom – similar to our Blackthorn

A tree fern

The trail

Sky Train – can you spot it?

I continued along the trail which would lead to another viewpoint, before retracing my steps. The views were amazing, but I was also interested in the flora alongside the trail, much if looking like the fynbos found in the Cape Peninsula, South Africa.

The path became muddier and less easy to traverse with short steps along the route, but the joy of discovering different things to see every few yards made me continue until I reached Lady Darley’s Lookout.

Steps and curves

French youngsters on the edge

Lady Darley Lookout

View to Echo Point

Echo Point

Bridging a cascade

Where I found the most wonderful views, and a group of French youngsters posing for photos on the edge of the overhang! What makes people do this? Do they not realise that one false step and they are over the edge? Looking at my options of either the ladder going down (and the steps in the distance to the next viewpoint at Katoomba Falls) and the steep staircase going up to the Cliff Drive, I decided that this would be my turnaround point. By now that sun was hot too!

Ladder down

The View

The next viewpoint

and more steps…

Returning

Lovely trees

Lady Darley Lookout – can you see the ladder?

and a final few photos of the flora…

Tree fern unfurling

Silver grey gums

The following day there were severe bush fires in the Blue Mountains – a common occurrence and one which must put fear in the hearts of those people who live in this vast ‘bushland’.

(Why are the Blue Mountains blue? The distinctive blue haze is always present. The phenomenon is known as ‘Rayleigh Scattering’ and caused by scattering rays of light coming into contact with the fine dust particles and droplets of oil dispersed from the eucalyptus trees in the valley.)

If you enjoy a walk, short or long, then you may enjoy visiting Jo’s Monday Walk where you are in for a treat.

Pilsdon Pen

Like a lot of things in life finding Pilsdon Pen was a fluke. We were driving back to Bridport in Dorset after visiting Lyme Regis and me being, well, me, decided to return via the country roads instead of the direct route. Admiring the views surreptitiously as I was driving along the narrow winding road, it was a relief to find a layby to pull into. Obviously a spot with a view as there were already a couple of cars parked there.

The panorama was spectacular, rolling hills, cliffs and in the distance, the sea. After taking a few photos, I headed across the road to a stile that I had spied which led to a path up a hill. Thinking that I might get even better views from the hill, I hopped over the stile.

And found that I was on Pilsdon Pen, the highest point in Dorset.

So of course I had to climb to the top, and after a bit of huffing and puffing and a stop or two at a conveniently placed bench, I got to see the 360 degree views.

Steeper than they look

Nearly there

Views to the east

On the top

The Beacon

View to the south

And I was particularly fascinated by the late afternoon shadows of the trees bordering that field.

Serendipity 🙂

If you enjoy a walk, short or long, then you may enjoy visiting Jo’s Monday Walk where you are in for a treat.

Reculver Towers and Roman Fort

It was a cold, grey day in June when I ventured out to the North Kent coast to visit a building that had intrigued me when I first glimpsed it in the distance from Herne Bay a few years ago. Twin towers that looked as though they rose from the sea itself.

An imposing landmark, the twin 12th-century towers of the ruined church stand amid the remains of an important Roman ‘Saxon Shore’ fort and a Saxon monastery.

It wasn’t always on the beach – coastal erosion has caused much of this site to be lost to the sea, so if you want to visit I suggest you don’t leave it too long.

From the car park it is a very short walk to the site ruins, but you can continue to walk along the coast through the Reculver Country Park to Herne Bay (west) along the Wantsum Way, or towards Margate (east). Given the blustery, wet weather I’m afraid I didn’t venture too far along this coastal path, but in sunnier weather I imagine it is a very nice place to walk or cycle in.

Looking West

You can see the path leading away on the left-hand side, but this promenade obviously wasn’t the best route forward. I was constantly wiping the camera lens already!