Australia: Sydney Harbour North Head

Sometimes it's nice just to get out for a wee bit of fresh air. Wayyy back in October, I did just that. On an overcast Sunday, I decided that I would continue my coastal walking excursions, but instead of continuing on the south side of Sydney Harbour (like I did from the South Head to Bondi or Bondi to Maroubra Beaches), I wanted to give the north side of the Harbour a try. I took the ferry from Circular Quay out to Manly - a great beachside suburb - and just started walking.

Sydney Panorama

Sydney is a fantastic city if you want to get out into a wilderness park without really leaving the city. Sydney Harbour National Park is made up of numerous parcels of land all throughout the area, most with access to the Harbour itself, and the North Head of the Harbour is no exception. As you walk, you quickly leave behind the busy suburban life and find yourself walking across small beaches at the heads of tiny inlets off the Harbour. And you see wildlife, too! One of the animals I have yet to see - though I haven't really sought it out yet - is the Sydney Harbour's population of Little Penguins. Apparently, there are only a few breeding pairs that call the Harbour their home and they all make their nests around the Manly and Fairlight suburbs. In fact, along the walking path from Manly to Fairlight, you see notices painted on the sidewalk telling you to watch out for the little penguins, which only grow to be a few tens of centimetres tall! From Manly out to the North Head, you see the signs telling you that you're in the penguin habitat, but they don't tell you where they actually are - nor will the locals divulge the nesting locations - because they want them to be protected from suburban dangers like dogs, cats, boats, and overzealous tourists - which, believe me, Sydney has and they all go out to Manly! If I were a Sydney Harbour penguin, I would be glad my nest was a secret worth keeping!

Further along, the path led back to a few houses and up to a former military training ground that is now being completely renovated into a community-led initiative focusing on the unique habitats the North Head protects. In fact, you frequently see signs warning you to keep an eye out for bandicoots - little weasel-like marsupials that were once very common throughout the Sydney area. While their populations in the suburbs are fairly healthy, the population of bandicoots in the National Park at the North Head is very very small. In fact, a hotel at the old Sydney Quarantine Station, has it written into their contract that if more than 7 bandicoots are killed by cars driving in or out, they will lose their business licence, so vehicle traffic to and from the hotel is limited in the evening, night, and morning hours when the bandicoots are most active. A colleague of mine also told me that a few years ago, a fox got in to the National Park and wreaked havoc on the bandicoot population, killing 6 bandicoots, thus reducing the gene pool by something like 20%!

So the North Head really is a little sanctuary of wilderness in the big Sydney city! At one of the welcome stations, I spoke with a volunteer who told me of the other wildlife in the park, including echidnas. Echidnas are one of the three species of monotremes - or egg-laying mammals - in the world (platypus and the long-beaked echidna are the other two). They look like mini porcupines or engorged hedgehogs, and their hind legs are twisted around to help them burrow. Anyway, the volunteer told me that they are not uncommon sightings in the park, but I was highly unlikely to see one. And with that, I had a goal for the day!

Continuing on along a raised metal-grate walkway (which is such a great idea for national parks to have because plants can grow under it, animals can pass underneath, and the only damage to the land are the post-holes for the walkway supports), I headed toward the view point at the very tip of the Harbour.

The amazing thing about the Australian coast around Sydney is that you have your nice wide sandy beaches, but between them are these massively huge sandstone cliffs that drop into the ocean and are eroded by the salty waves below. Just like on the South Head, there are battlements built up all around the North Head to protect Sydney Harbour during the World Wars. Many of the constructions still remain today and are built in to the scenic lookouts.

Being October, it was a little late for the main right and sperm whale migrations, but at one of the lookouts, I noticed that a Sydney whale-watching boat was out in the ocean and since it guarantees its customers to see a whale, I figured I'd see if I could see anything. I had no luck, but a man who was there with his family was more patient than me, and sure enough, he saw the tell-tale sign of a whale's presence: the steam from the blowhole! We determined there were two whales, very far away, and they would only come up every five minutes or so, so it seemed like forever waiting for them to come back to the surface. Thankfully, I had my DSLR camera with the telephoto lens and while you can't really see the whales in the photo, you can see the breaking water and blowing mist as they breached. And then, wouldn't you believe it, just beneath the cliffs below us a small pod of dolphins was spotted and I watched them for a good ten minutes before they turned and went in a different direction.

The view of the city and the South Head from the lookout is fantastic, even on a gray day, like when I was there. You really get a sense of just how big Sydney Harbour is, how rough its coast is, and how green and beautiful the city is on the hills surrounding the Harbour. I started to head back to the path, because I wanted to find the correct trail down to Manly Beach, and just before I got to the parking lot for the North Head lookout, I saw a few people gathered on the walkway looking at something. I got a little closer and was surprised and excited to see an echidna digging and scratching in the dirt just off the sidewalk, looking for his dinner. They really are bizarre looking little guys! He took no notice of our small crowd and maybe even posed for a few camera shots! I felt lucky to have been able to see another Australian animal that many Australians haven't seen outside of the zoo (and I've seen 5 of them!).



I got back on the path and saw a sign pointing toward some rare cliff-top swamps or bogs that are just perched on top of the flat sandstone and decided to take a little detour. The walk was great and almost no one else was on it. The metal walkway seemed to hover over these perfectly still ponds while dragonflies and birds zoomed around.

Soon enough, though, I was back on the trail and working my way over to Manly Beach. The sun was beginning to get low in the sky, turning it a nice pink color, but off in the distance, well north of Sydney I could see the rising smoke of controlled fire-burns being lit to limit the advance of a real bush fire, should one occur during the summer months. A few years back, a big bush fire did burn its way through Lane Cove National Park right out near Macquarie University, where I study, so the chances of a fire coming close to the city are very real and all precautions in the outer suburbs are taken to prevent loss of life and property.

Manly, the North Head, and the ferry ride back into the city are some of my favorite spots in Sydney. This walk was the last time I was out that way and after writing this, I have an urge to make another visit soon!