We crossed Spit Bridge in quick time. At the end of the bridge was a sign stating the trackhead to the walk to Manly and we descended the steps to the waters edge and followed a rough path past fishermen casting their lines at Ellerys Punt Reserve. This first section of the walk is called Fisher Bay Reserve and follows the contours of this little bay. We soon found ourselves walking across wooden walkways and having views of the Spit Bridge and across to Chinamans Beach. The track then ascended into bushland for a short distance, a nice little tester for our first walk of the year, not made any easier with the hot and humid conditions, we were soon soaked with sweat. One thing we did notice was the high numbers of Eastern Water Dragons sunbaking on the tracks, some of these lizards were quite big (approximately 2 feet long) but most scampered away at our approach, the braver ones simply allowed us to pass.

One of the many Eastern Water Dragons sunbaking on the track

We then came out of the bushland reserve at Sandy Bay, a vast expanse of green reserve. We relocated the track on the other side of the reserve and again ascended into the bush for a short distance before coming out at Clontarf Reserve & Beach. We made our way past picnickers enjoying the sunny conditions before taking the narrow beach strip past waterfront homes. We were now on the Clontarf Track which is only a short distance before becoming the more challenging Castle Rock Track. This track again left the waterfront and ascended into thick scrub above Castle Rock Beach. This included the toughest climb yet, but once again we surprised ourselves with our walking fitness this early in the year - mind you, we made sure we stopped to catch our breaths once the track levelled out.

Gary takes a breather after a short ascent near Castle Rock Beach

Moving on again we did more climbing, thankfully all these climbs were on steps cut into the rock and it was not long before we found ourselves in the bush behind Grotto Point. We took the side track to take a look at the old lighthouse on Grotto Point. We had to admit the lighthouse looks much more spectacular from across the harbour at Balmoral Beach, but the views from here were still quite breathtaking. We returned to the track and now found ourselves on the Arabanoo Walk which winds its way over Sydney Harbour National Park.

We soon found ourselves in a small rocky clearing with several areas of this rock platform fenced off with large wooden beams. These were protecting some amazing aboriginal rock carvings which included birds, kangaroos and fish. We spent some time here admiring not only these ancient carvings, but also the magnificent views this area afforded us. Westward across Middle Head to the skyline of Sydney, South to the Eastern Suburbs, Eastwards to Manly and North Head and of course, Sydney Harbour in all its splendour. We were soon joined by other walkers doing the track this day. It turned out that just about all the walkers on this track were doing the walk opposite to us but they all appeared to be starting at Manly and walking only as far as Grotto Point before making the return trip.

Middle Harbour, just above Grotto Point with the Sydney City skyline in the background

We continued on following this track which continued to give us excellent views of the harbour. We watched as the Manly Ferries passed each other near the Heads, thinking that in a few hours time we would be riding one of these on our way home. As we neared Dobroyd Head we had excellent views of spectacular Crater Cove way down the cliffside below us. We now took the Dobroyd Track which descended Dobroyd Head quite steeply. We ignored the side track which gives walkers the option of taking the high route to Arabanoo Lookout and descended to famous Reef Beach. Here we found a shady spot just behind the beach to have our lunch.

Crater Cove near Dobroyd Head. North head in the distance

Reef Beach was once notorious as being a Nudist Beach, but several years ago Nude bathing was outlawed. These days young families and of course, bushwalkers come here to enjoy the cool waters of North Harbour. We stopped here for lunch picking a nice shady spot on some steps under the trees.

Returning to our walking 30 minutes later we left Reef Beach and made our way through the bush to Forty Baskets Beach. From here the walk was less than exciting. mainly due to the fact that the North Harbour walk and the Fairlight walk now followed concrete roads and pathways. We trudged our way past expensive looking houses and towering blocks of units, still getting good views of the water, but we were now looking forward to reaching Manly Wharf and getting ourselves a nice cold can of soft drink or an ice cream.

We arrived at Manly Wharf just after 3.15pm. Not counting stops for breaks, it had taken us just over 3 1/2 hours to do the walk. The track does continue after Manly Wharf. You can take your choice of going to Shelly Beach on the ocean side of Manly, or taking the track to Spring Cove on the harbour side. However, these two tracks do follow suburban roads so we decided to forgo these walks. Within 30 minutes we were relaxing as the Ferry to Circular Quay cut through the harbour waters, giving us one last look at the area we had walked. Quite a good walk for our first outing of the year and no doubt one we will return to sometime in the future. Maybe next time, especially in cooler weather the consideration might be to walk from Manly to The Spit and return to Manly, taking the 2nd choice of track on the return over Dobroyd Head to Arabanoo Lookout.