Cliff and Coastal Walks

During my week off before classes I was able to do one of the many coastal walks. There is a path which goes from Bondi all the way to Maroubra... am not sure how far it is but it takes about 2.5 hours to do the whole thing at a brisk walk. Living near Coogee makes it easy because I am at the half walk mark and can either go North or South then take a bus back. :)

On one of my days off I headed south to Maroubra and discovered that I love that walk. Along the way you are forced to walk along the rocks below the houses and there are tide pools, cool sandstone, and overall spectacular views. The path ends at the cliffs above Maroubra and so I was able to sit and relax while eating my lunch (it was one of the few sunny days we've had). So this spurred a bit of a new thing for me... exploring all the 'nature walks' which are found around Sydney.

This last weekend was the Queen's Birthday, so we of course had a long weekend. On Saturday (the only sunny day) I did was is called the Spit to Manly walk... even though nowhere along the way is there a spitting contest to see who can spit to Manly, although that would be entertaining. The walk is a 9.3km walk which all references say takes 3-4 hours to complete. Given my natural speed walking capabilities, I managed it in 2.5 hours. Along the way you go through National Parks with spectacular views back towards the city skyline and out to sea, and there are even a few nude beaches along the path. (Thank God it's winter here and the beaches were empty!!)

All in all, the walk was great exercise and a good way to be get outside and stay within the city. On the way back I took the ferry from Manly back to the CBD (central business district) and just confirmed that the Washington State ferries are my favorites. :)

Anyways, here are a couple pics from the hikes and there are more on my flickr account as usual.