Walking Waverton...

The content of my first blog is an easy choice. Definitely my most favourite part of Sydney is the harbour! I love love love Sydney harbour and get overly excited every time I go near it, whether it be driving over the bridge or doing one of the many harbour side walks. For some reason it just makes me happy. As a North Sydney resident I am very blessed as the harbour is just a hop skip and a jump away and I try to go near it as often as I can - much to the annoyance of Chris who just doesn't get why I love it so much. While we were living at Crows Nest, my favourite thing would be going down to Lavender bay early Saturday morning and walking to kirribilli (but that is another blog). However now that we have moved toWaverton, I have found my new favourite walk:  Balls Head Reserve Waverton.

They say on the signs they say it is the most significant area of urban bushland on the foreshore of Sydney Harbour - and that it is! The walk through the bushland is beautiful and relaxing, but what I really love about it is the view.

If you manage to break your way through the bush path and get to one of the open areas you can see all the way across the harbour to the city, the harbour bridge, the opera house and across to Balmain. Early in the morning it is the most beautiful, as it is still cool and fresh and all the cute little birdies are out cheeping and the water is still before all the ferries get going. I am one of those people whose mind is continually buzzing, and I think this is one of the only spots where I actually don't think!

Balls head is really easy to get to. From Waverton Train station you just turn left and keep walking and you will end up amongst it in about 5 minutes. I have been told that you can walk all the way from Balls Head Reserve to Kirribilli, but I haven't done that yet, but might try next weekend when my friend visits from Brissie.

The only negatives is the walk itself isn't that long, so if you would like some good exercise it wouldn't offer you  more than 30-45 mins of brisk walking (unless you try and make it to Kirribilli/Milsons Point). The other slight negative is it is quite industrial/naval as HMAS something a-rather is right next door, and if you take the wrong path you end up in some restricted area with boom gates, electronic entry key pads and barbed wire, but I haven't got myself in trouble yet, so just keep walking until you end up back on the path. If you are a history buff the naval base might be a bonus for you, with plenty of signs up around the reserve sharing the extensive history of the area. In fact they are in the midst of turning the old cold loader into a centre for sustainability. North Sydney Council is holding a Sustainability Festival to celebrate the grand opening in a few weekends time (10th July) which looks like a lot of fun. Maybe I will head down there and tell you about it!!