Weekend Excursion (2): Broken Bay and the Hawkesbury River Estuary

On Sunday, the weather is even better than on Saturday, and I manage to get up early (7 am). For me, this is a real sacrifice, but I want to spend the day at the Ku-Rin-Gai Chase and Brisbane Waters National Parks, which are some 50 km up the coast from Sydney, to the North and South of the Hawkesbury river estuary.

I do not want to bore you with long descriptions of what I did when, and I will just post some pictures from the trip. Basically, I took the bus up to Palm Beach (the poshiest of the posh Sydney sururbs) did a 4h ferry cruise on Broken Bay and the Hawkesbury river, and a light afternoon bushwalk from Patonga to Umina Beach. With incredible views of the river estuary and Broken Bay.

Pretty much paradise. At least with good weather.

Below are the pictures from the bushwalk described above. It winds upwards through light forest, with several magnificient lookouts on the river estuary. Then, it descends to a beautiful sandy beach with an ocean pool (Pearl Beach). In the forest behind it, rich Sydneysiders have bought their holiday home, presumably before the real estate rush. Now, these places cannot even be bought for money. From there, I conclude the walk by walking along the trips to Umina Beach, where the evening light throws a glorious golden shade over sand and water alike.

Checking in at the Ocean Beach Hotel---not a posh resort, but a pub and gambling center with rooms on the second floor---proves to be challenging. My credit card is in Sydney (after all, the payment was pre-authorized via a booking website) and they demand a 200 AUD cash deposit which I obviously do not carry. At some point, I consider canceling my booking and returning to Sydney. But in the end, I find an ATM and everything works out.

"I should get something in return", I tell the staff, who was friendly all the time, but deferred to company policy. "A free coke or so." The response is given with an open smile and utterly baffling after the previous hazzles.
"Do you drink beer?"
"Yes..."
"Let me fix you a couple of drinks."
"One is enough, thank you."
"Do you also drink spirits?"
 "..."

Probably I could have emptied the entire bar. But since I already had a glass of white wine at a pit stop in the afternoon, just before the bushwalk, I leave it with a large draft beer.  Fortunately, there is no company policy on free drinks for tired guests. May this remain so.