Sydney 2013: Beaches North of Sydney

There are a few beaches near Bondi Junction but one of my relatives drove me around north of Sydney to check out some beaches that are a bit remote and hard to get to. There were some amazing views from some of these beaches.

We started at Shelly Beach. The below picture looks out onto Manly Beach. I attempted to snorkel there but not much to see as the water wasn’t as clear. The water was a bit choppy as well. A dicey swim. We swam north directly out of Shelly Beach and headed towards a nearby beach area.

We were in an Aquatic reserve. I saw some fish and some coral but nothing special. Below were some signs to help you identify some of the sea life in the reserve.

This is a very small beach but quiet and have a cafe and small restaurant adjacent to the beach.

There were a ton of these water fountains. I think that this drinking fountain initiative is new and trying to reduce plastic bottle usage and subsequently reduce plastic bottles from being put into the ocean.

After a short snorkel session, we went to Manly Beach (accessible by ferry from Circular Quay) and then continued to drive north.

It is a typical seaside town with a lot of shops and stores. I went in early November so not quite summer yet so not as busy. I can see that this place is packed with people during summer weekends as the entire road has been made to a pedestrian walkway.

There was a covered jungle gym there for kids.

On the other side of the promenade is the Manly Ferry Terminal, where you can take the ferry from Downtown Sydney. Just walk directly out of the ferry straight down the main walkway to get to Manly Beach.

Afterward, we drove north. Our first stop was the old Quarantine Station in North Head. It has been redeveloped as Q station with restaurants and other businesses.

We drove pass North Fort, which has a few artillery stations that has been preserved. It is no longer an active military installation and is open to the public. There is a museum there.

This fort and artillery installations where used in the last scene in Mission Impossible II.

Beyond the fort was a great viewpoint of Sydney. I am standing at the mouth between Sydney Harbour and the Pacific Ocean.

This was the archway that we passed on the way into the North Head area.

Afterwards, we went back to Manly Beach for lunch. I was a bit shocked to see Ben and Jerry’s here in Australia. There are a few locations there in Sydney alone.

Below are some views of the rest of Manly Beach. There are a few public pools besides the beach, a common sight in beaches around here.

This place won a fish and chips award so I had to try this place.

They have many types of fish and all of it very fresh. I just got their ordinary fish and chips.

The fish and chips were amazing. Crispy but not soggy with oil. Fish was very fresh and well cooked.

My relatives got fish with a salad. That also looked amazing.

A couple more views of Manly Beach

The next stop was Griffith Park besides Dee Why Beach, adjacent to the golf course. It also had a good view of downtown Sydney.

Below is the view of Dee Why Beach.

Below is the view of Collaroy Beach just north of Griffith Park.

Here are a few pictures from Mclean lookout. If you act fast, the house that has this view is for sale! I’m not sure if this house is still on the market though as this picture was taken about two months ago.

On our way back, my relative noted how this place has really good meat pies, so we stopped in. I had an amazing curry chicken meat pie in Auckland about 3 years ago and I wanted to try these.

I cant remember which one I had but it was very good. If you are in the Dee Why area, you should stop in and try one! It would make for a cheap meal as the pie was about 5AUD.

We went to Church Point next and here is a view of Scotland Island. It is an island in the middle of a lake, which is pretty cool.

This was an interesting house we passed by on our way to Palm Beach.

Here are a few views of Palm Beach.

Also to note that there is a large mansion and other houses in the Palm Beach area that is the location of a reality TV series in Sydney. I am not sure what it was but we passed by some camera crews and film trailers on our way through.

I got back to Killara around 5pm. It was a long day but there were some great beaches here. I’m usually not a beach person but many of these beaches would be great to spend the day at. It was nice that it was quiet this time of year but I can see how all of these beaches are very busy during the summer.

If you have a car, it would be worth checking out the above sights! North Fort sounds like an interesting tour and it is so close to Manly beach that you won’t need a car to get to. Take the ferry from Circular Quay to Manly Beach. On the website, it says it is a 45 minute walk from Manly Beach to the fort via walking paths. There is a bus that runs every 30 minutes as well.