Australia: Terrigal and Killcare

Travel date: 01 September 2012

I wanted to do just a quick post before I forget about these photos. But last weekend I took the train up to Gosford to visit one of my friends who is leaving for a research stint in Antarctica in the next few weeks. Gosford is not really near Sydney and it takes about an hour and twenty minutes on the train, but it is a beautiful train ride that veers off from the highlands above the flooded estuaries of the Hawkesbury River, rumbles through a few tunnels, and then snakes along the shoreline right on the waters edge through the Brisbane Waters National Park. It was too sunny of a day and the trains windows were dirty, so I didn't get any photos of the journey, but it is amazingly stunning and you're pinched between steep, forested hills and expanses of water that kind of just tuck in and out of the hillsides.

I was picked up at the airport by my friend in her car and we drove out to Terrigal which is right on the Pacific and still maintains some of it's quaint small-town charm, though it's marred by some fancy hotels and resort traffic. At first we just drove through, and kept driving through Bouddi National Park to the tiny tiny town of Killcare. This area reminded me a lot of Michigan and the numerous small towns nestled in the dunes of Lake Michigan with roads going up and down hills and winding around lakes or inlets, eventually opening up to beautiful views of sparkling blue waters.

Not sure what kind of bird this is. But they are also all over the place, looking for table scraps!

Rosellas are a bit more demonic looking than their plumage makes them seem. They are rude scavengers who aren't afraid to bite you if you have food in your fingers!

Killcare is a snoozy little town. I mean, not much goes on there, and it pretty much consists of a few little cafes (our food from l'Anxaneta was delicious and filling and I thought we definitely got what we paid for!). L'Anxaneta is a cute, brightly colored cafe across the one-lane road from the quiet Hardy's Bay and it's filled with Picasso-inspired paintings. My friend and I chatted over burgers while watching the waitresses shoo away the rosellas who are not afraid of people and want to eat your food!

Afterward, we drove back through the National Park and back to Terrigal where we got out of the car to walk around a little bit - took a stroll down by the beach (it's one of those long, wind-swept beaches surrounded by promontories, except the ones here are not covered in houses like the ones in Sydney!) and onto some rocks and then headed back to Gosford. It was a great day for a little bit of a day trip. I'm beginning to like this idea of so many rural and quiet places so close and within reach of the big Sydney city!

Terrigal Beach is much less crowded than any of the city beaches I've been to and so much bigger, too!!

The waterfront at Terrigal Beach is just more relaxed and quiet - only small fishing and recreational boats and not the armada of sailboats packed away in Sydney Harbour!