Linda has some friends visiting Sydney next month from the US and wants to show them something of the Sydney she has come to love. Not the tourist areas of Sydney, but the beautiful park-lands around the harbour that are there for all to enjoy, thanks to the foresight and planning of visionaries long gone.
We’ve been thinking of Cremorne Point with its views across to the city and that beautiful walk around to Mosman, But there were three other outsiders on our short-list even though a bit on the touristy side:
- Milsons Point, under the north pylon of the Harbour Bridge
- Observatory Hill, overlooking The Rocks and the western side of the bridge
- Mrs Macquaries Chair, looking west up the harbour to the Opera House and the bridge
And then, on the night before we planned to check them out, I remembered one more. There was a park I used to visit when living with my parents in Woolstonecraft, near North Sydney back in the late 1960s. It was a bush-land reserve called Balls Head, and although I hadn’t been back there for possibly 30 years, I still had memories of pleasant bush-land with views of the harbour.
So Balls Head, being the closest to home, was where we went first.
As soon as Linda saw it she was thrilled by the bush walks, the spectacular views across to the city and the very pleasant picnic areas including a free barbeque area. There’s even a toilet block that is well maintained.
So we didn’t even bother going to the other four locations. Instead we spent a lovely afternoon walking through the bush, marveling at the views, talking to a couple of artists packing up their easels, and enjoying the beautiful autumn weather.
Leaving Balls Head we stopped in the tiny shopping centre of Waverton less than 1km away. The railway station was opened in 1895 and there is a cute little booking office built about the same time guarding the entrance. About 150 metres south of the station is the heritage-listed Station Master’s residence built about 1900. We stopped nearby at a coffee shop to enjoy a peaceful cuppa and to count our blessings for remembering the reserve and having the good fortune to be retired and so able to visit while everyone else was at work.
Life is good!
[important]For more information about Balls Head and its history visit this site:
http://www.sydneytravellersguide.com/places_ballshead.htm
For more information about Waverton Railway Station visit this site:
http://www.heritage.nsw.gov.au/07_subnav_01_2.cfm?itemid=4801038
[/important]
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