Heading north-east from our meeting point near Avalon Beach, our group took an urban route for a short distance until we reached the Bangalley Headland. The path here yielded fine views back along the sandstone coastal cliffs to Avalon Headland and further south.
Once off the coastal path, we descended slowly on urban roads to Whale Beach for beachside morning tea.
At the northern end of Whale Beach, we climbed a couple of hundred steps to reach the road which took us around Little Head. Rounding the headland we were rewarded with more fine views, south and north. It was clear that this part of Sydney is a very desirable place to live - there were many extensive renovations and vast new houses along our route, not to mention those that have been there for decades and in original condition.
Palm Beach was the next destination where we paused for lunch before tackling the track up to the Barrenjoey Lighthouse. The lighthouse precinct has been carefully restored and preserved and is a wonderful destination for views in all directions.
Palm Beach was busy, busy, busy. The place was totally parked out, and there were large numbers of people in cars cruising around trying to find a place to stop - it was just as well we had walked in!
Some of the group made their way back to Rosemary’s place at Curl Curl for our traditional start-of-year fish and chips for afternoon tea.
Great walk, great weather and great company. Many thanks to Bob and Sally for organising the day.
Here is a GPS trace of the route we took. Distance was about 12.5 km.
