Harbour Walk 7  

GREENWICH PENINSULA - BERRY ISLAND      

July 2012  

approx. 4 1/2km  

3 hours  

This walk starts with a ferry ride and finishes with a train trip.

I walked from Greenwich Point Ferry Wharf around Gore Cove to Berry Island Reserve, 

and then a little further on to catch a train at Wollstonecraft station to the city.

7.1   Right at the ferry wharf is a park, the Greenwich Point Reserve going west, north-west along the foreshore where the Lane Cove River enters the harbour. But I’m going east towards the Harbour Bridge. 

After a short walk along Serpentine Road and crossing a little reserve one gets to Greenwich Bath.

 Below O’Connell Street a track leeds to Manns Point Park. The view from this headland is magnificent.

The wattles were out, making the foreshore walk especially beautiful.

From there on the walk around Gore Cove started.

7.2   Most of the west side of Gore Cove is occupied by the Shell Oil Terminal.

On the other side of the terminal along Victoria Street, Manns Ave and Greenwich Road are some beautiful houses.

7.3   

After walking along some more nice suburban streets, Chisholm St., Edwina St. and Vista St. I got to a dead end with a little look-out. The view of the cove to headland  is superb. A bit of a hidden path with  lots of crooked steps seems to lead down to a jungle. However I went back Vista St. and into Glenview Street.

And there again was an overgrown jungle path. This time I had to venture down. 

And what a surprise.  I entered what looked like an enchanted forest.

 The sun light filtering through the gumtrees and ferns was magnificent. The silence was only broken by bird song. The Whip Bird calls were dominant, and the laughter of the Kookaburras and the song of the Magpies too. I spotted Blue Wrens and many other birds I could not identify. 

A little creek trickles between the rocks. 

A bit  further a little bridge crossing the creek had a sign ‘To Vista Street’. So that was where that steep path down at the look-out went to.

 I was glad I did not come down that way, I would have missed the enchanted forest. 

at the bridge some mangrove appeared. 

Climbing up the other side of the cove, I noticed the vegetation changed to more open eucalyptus slopes with some nice boulders and small caves. 

Good views of the eastern side of the cove where I had walked half an hour ago. 

Only very few people around, two joggers past me and a man with a big black dog called Snowy.

Good when one does not need to go walking on weekends.

7.4  

After a short walk along Shirley Street I got to a park, to Berry Island. 

Berry Island is actually a peninsular. The mudflats linking the island were reclaimed in the 1960‘s and a nice open green space was created.

 A sign with interesting information explaines the Aboriginal history of this area. 

Around Berry Island is a loop walk, the Gadyan Track of about 800 m. 

There are some good Aboriginal Rock Carvings. 

At the southern point of Berry Island is a little look-out with a view across to Ballast Point, Balmain and the City. I could also see Ball Head Bay where my next walk will start.

This walk was most enjoyable. I did not expect so much beautiful bushland.  

Little less than 10 minutes walking up hill Shirley Road got me to the Wollstonecraft Train Station.

Harbour Walk 6 

 HUNTERS HILL - WOOLWICH PENINSULA 

June 2012  

approx. 7+1 km 

2 1/2 + 1 hour

This walk takes me to the North Shore. 

It starts from a bridge and finishes with a ferry ride. 

I walked from Gladesville Bridge to Woolwich Valentia Street Wharf.

6.1

Walking across Gladsville Bridge one gets good views of Parramatta River, across the harbour to the Harbour Bridge and City, and also of the peninsula where I’m going to walk along today. 

At the end of the bride a path goes down to Huntley Point.

I like standing under bridges. It is interesting to see from below how  quiet, calm these busy, big constructions can be. 

All along Huntley Point Road, this is the only bit of green with access to the water. The only other bit of open space at the end of the street is fenced off. 

6.2

Crossing Tarban Creek Bridge leads to  the peninsular. 

Next to the bridge a small, bit neglected  reserve going right down to the water.

 

The walk then goes mostly along well maintained streets with beautiful homes, but rarely any access  to the water. 

Many of the avenues and crescents are dead ends, often without a ‘No through Road’ sign! 

However there are some nice views along the way.

Hunters Hill is famous  for many beautiful sandstone buildings from mid 1800s, like the Lyncote House. The Council has put information plaques into the footpath at noteworthy spots.

6.3

Further along Woolwich Road is Weil Park with a playground and sports field. 

And further down is Kellys Bush, a lager reserve leading to the waters edge,

with a good view of Cockatoo Island.

I went back up to Woolwich Road. At Franki Ave is a great little lookout 

overlooking  Woolwich Dock.

A bit further on is another park, Goats Paddock. 

The Harbour Trust has created walk from here to the dock.

6.4

But I could not walk any longer today, it was getting late and I had to rush to catch a ferry. 

Waiting at Woolwhich Valentia Street Ferry Wharf and looking at the dock, I knew I had to come back soon to this interesting spot.

AND I did.
From Valentia Street Wharf it takes about 15 minutes via The Point Road and Gale Street to get to Goat Paddock Park. 
A pathway leads down to the dock.

Woolwich Dock was the largest dock when it opened in 1901 and it continued to operate till 1958. 

Right next to it is Clarkes Point, a large reserve, an ideal spot for fishing, sailing and picnics. 

 

There are great views of the Bridge, City and Cockatoo Island










At the Marina one has to go up a little along Margaret  and Alfred Street to get to Kelly's Bush.

Kelly's Bush is the site of the world's first Green Ban. In 1970 local women, and later with union support fought to protect this last bit of bushland along the Parramatta River from urban development. 
It is only a short walk from Kelly' Bush to Woolwhich Rd. From there a bus goes back to the ferry wharf and in the other direction to Hunters Hill, connecting with busses to the city. 
This additional walk was very interesting and pleasant, and it took less than 1 hour. I learned a lot about the industrial past of this beautiful area with so many old sandstone buildings. I'm glad I did it.

Harbour Walk 5/6   

PARRAMATTA RIVER  

Ferry Ride     

June 2012 

2 1/4 hours    

Standing under the Gladesville Bridge after finishing my Drummoyne walk  I thought how sad to leave out that part of Sydney Harbour which lays  beyond this bridge. Walking all along the western part of the harbour with the many bays would take years. But there is a good way to explore that too and fast and easy: just going on the Parramatta River Ferry. 

The Parramatta River service goes from Circular Quay to Rydalmere. However I hopped on the ferry in Drummoyne, at Woseley Street. The ferry stops from then on at 8 wharves, in Hunters Hill, Chiswick, Abbotsford, Cabarita, Putney, Meadow Bank, Olympic Park Homebush and terminates at Rydalmere. 

The ride took 40 minutes and one gets great views of the many foreshore parks, of new residential developments where once factories were and where grand mansions on big land grants stood. The first wheat for the colony was grown on the banks of Parramatta River. We went under many bridges, even crossed a car ferry. There are still a few factories along the river.

At Rydalmere one can continue on to Parramatta by going on the express service from Circular Quay to Parramatta.  

The last stretch along Parramatta River takes 20 minutes. The ferry has to go real slow to protect the mangrove on both sides of the now  narrow river. It is so nice to observe the many waterbirds there. Some time ago I saw some pelicans here, but now there were none, maybe they have all migrated to flooded Eyre Lake! At very low tides the ferry service is suspended to protect the environment. 

The ferry stops only a few minutes at Parramatta. Would be good to take a later ferry back and go for a walk. Parramatta is a nice place, and has still some very old buildings. By the way Parramatta was founded in the same year as Sydney in 1788 and was the first white settlement away from the coast. Parramatta means in Aboriginal  "the place where the eels lie down”.

I decided to go straight back. After all this is a harbour walk, well, this time a harbour  ferry trip. Going back from Parramatta to Circular Quay with only one stop at Rydalmere took 1 1/4 hour.

                            Gladesville Bridge

5/6.2 

I encountered repeatedly problems with posting my photos recently.

I hope that I will soon be able to add some more of my pictures to this blog.

Abbotsford

Cabarita

Putney-Mortlake Car Ferry

Mortlake

‘Riverdell’ Concord

Concord Hospital

Ryde Bridge

 Meadowbank

Old Meadowbank Rail Bridge, now pedestrian walkway, 

New Meadowbank Rail Bridge

Rhodes

Olympic Park

Silverwater Bridge 

5/6.3  
These are the last photos of my Parramatta River Ferry ride: 

 Parramatta