Australia Day Long Weekend 2025

Friday 24 Jan 2025

After arriving back to Kelly’s after work in the city. We just went for a quick and easy dinner at P’Nut at Dee Why. I had the Nasi Goreng while Kelly had the Pad Thai. It was ok. Nothing too special, just nice and easy. We then headed to woolies to do our shop for the weekend. We planned to make burgers and have a movie night with popcorn on the Saturday night. But of course you can’t just buy one patty, they come in a set so we bought to make a few burgers over the weekend. Kelly’s main priority though was the Nando’s sauce. We got the Peri Peri mild sauce.

Saturday 25 Jan 2025|Akuna Bay - Mt Kuring-Gai

Today we headed to Akuna Bay in the Mt Kuring-Gai National Park. Our plan was to do some kayaking then head home. Once we got into the National Park, there were quite a few cyclists. Luckily most were going in the opposite direction to us. We parked and walked over to the marina. We had been here a number of times before but not for kayaking. Although we were here one weekend with plans to do it, but the worker advised that it was pretty windy that day and said unless we were strong kayakers, we might struggle going against the wind. We’re not the strongest kayakers so we took his advice and didn’t do it.

Today was a lot calmer though. Barely any wind at all which was good. There’s an office there where you can hire the kayaks from. We were there and waited for awhile and no one was there. There’s a cafe/restaurant next to the office and we asked them if there were people working today. They assured us there was about 4 of them working, just probably busy around the marina. There was a phone number on the office door which I rang and no one answered. We waited a bit more, but started looking at alternatives as it had already been awhile and we didn’t want to lose anymore time. Luckily a worker showed up. We signed the forms and he gave us advice on where to go and what we could see. He got our life jackets and we jumped into the kayak and headed off.

Once you get out of the marina, you can either turn left or right. We decided to go left first and see what it was like. It was nice and quiet. Only very few boats were out there at the time. It was pretty hot in the sun though. We both were wearing rashies just so we didn’t have to lather up on sunscreen. We kayaked for a bit but it was more of the same really. Ideally we wanted some sort of bay so we could jump out and swim a bit. We decided to head back, past the marina to the dead end. We did cross the river to the other side to be in a bit of shade. It was a lot nicer in the shade. We got to a more shallow part where we could see some fish and saw quite a few small sting rays. We let the current take us a bit so we were just floating on the water under the shade watching the sea life around us. Because we weren’t paddling, we weren’t making any movement on the water so the fish and sting rays would come out and not be afraid.

We headed towards the dead end a bit more. The water was so shallow, I was surprised we weren’t touching the ground with the kayak. It was mudflaps and mangroves and since the water was so shallow, wasn’t the best place to swim. We slowly made our way back to the marina after that. As we were coming back in, there were a few more boats going out. We docked, gave our life jackets back, grabbed our bags and headed off. It was a nice morning. Very quiet, unlike if we were kayaking around the Spit. Just a shame there’s no real bays to swim stop and swim at.

For my lunch, we stopped off at “One Bakery and Cafe” at Dee Why. It’s a Vietnamese cafe. I had walked past there before and just wanted to try some of their food. I just had a chicken avocado wrap. It was good, but it wasn’t toasted. I might’ve been able to ask if I could have it toasted but didn’t think about it till later. There’s another cafe nearby and they toast their wraps which I like.

The wrap was a small lunch as we were going to cook our burgers early. We started cooking around 1700. Kelly chopped up some onions, lettuce, tomato and avocado. She cooked her vegetarian patty first and I cooked my meat one after. I had cheese on mine while Kelly didn’t, but she had pineapple on hers while I didn’t. It was very nice and the Nando sauce was nice too. Although we couldn’t really distinguish the sauce as there was a lot going on with regards to all the flavours coming from the burger. But it all blended in nicely and it was delicious. Later that night, we cooked our popcorn and watched a movie, while drinking our vanilla cokes.

Sunday 26 Jan 2025

Wagstaffe

This morning we drove up towards Palm beach to catch a ferry to Wagstaffe. We got there early. The Ferry was scheduled for 0900. We got there maybe 0840 and there was already a bit of a line. We lined up and waited and the Ferry’s came. I say Ferry’s because there are two. One goes to Wagstaffe and Ettalong and the other goes to Basin, Currawong and a few other places. The ferry that goes to Basin is smaller than the other one. And most people were getting on the one to Basin. A lot had beach/camping gear, chairs, gazebos and trolleys. When we got on the ferry to Wagstaffe it was pretty quiet. We took off and it took maybe just over 20mins to get to Wagstaffe. It was nice scenery and being a big boat it wasn’t rocky, although the swell didn’t seem to be really choppy anyway. Sailing past houses on the water and each house would have their own jetty connected to their property. I joked to Kelly, imagine going to your friends house via boat. Seems like a rich life. We got off and started walking up a steep road. This was the start of the hike.

Once we got to the top of the road it leveled out and we walked along it passing by houses. The road eventually ends as it’s a dead end and it becomes a path. The path crosses some roads with signs saying for pedestrians give way to cars and no walkers or bikes on the road. The roads are very steep! Soon there’s no more roads and it’s just a path. The path is called the Flannel Flower walking track. There is a bit of elevation on the hike at the start, but nothing too bad. It does lead to some nice water views though a bit early on. There was a lot of spiders here too. The most I’ve seen on a hike. There were just spiderwebs everywhere along the path and these spiders were pretty big too. All different colours from blue to yellow.

The path then merges onto Tallow beach trail. There are signs that point to Tallow beach. From what I’ve researched there’s a campground down that way too. We were only on this trail for maybe a few minutes as we headed onto Box Head trail. There wasn’t too much during the box head trail. Only towards the end do you get up high and see the views of the water. The weather had mainly been a bit cloudy for the duration, but as we got to the end, the sun started to come out which made for amazing views. Although the sound of several jetskis on the water below can be heard quite clearly. Took a few photos and headed back. We were on a bit of a schedule as the ferry arrives at 1220. If was miss that ferry the next one would be at 1420 and there wasn’t any food shops around Wagstaffe. Well there was one but it closes at 1200.

As we made our way back we ran into quite a few people going to Box head. It had been quiet on our way there barely passing anyone but on the way back it seemed so busy. It was fine though as we had a quiet hike on the way there. When I was looking at the trails and paths, I saw that there is a path called “Old Wagstaffe Trail”. I had planned on going back on this trail rather than the Flannel Flower track as it was meant to be a bit quicker. However when we got to the start of the track there was a sign saying “Private Property, No Public Access”. So we had to back track a little and go back via the Flannel Flower track. Just before we started getting to houses again, we saw the end of the Old Wagstaffe Trail. Which had the same sign as we saw before. But there didn’t seem to be any houses nearby, yet it was private property. Although Google maps had given me that path to take so it doesn’t know it’s private property. Either way we made it back to the wharf with plenty of time. So much so because the ferry arrived a bit late as well.

Ettalong Beach

It’s a quick 10min ferry ride between Wagstaffe and Ettalong beach. When we got there, there was quite a line waiting for the ferry. We got off and headed towards a cafe called Coast 175. I was a bit scared that we wouldn’t be able to find a table and we were both hungry considering we just did a hike. I knew there were other places to eat nearby though, so I wasn’t too worried. When we went inside, it did seem a little busy. Luckily we did manage to find a table. At the counter there was a sign saying 10% Sunday surcharge and another sign saying 30min wait for food. I ordered a chick gyros wrap and a juice while Kelly ordered the vegetarian taco plate plus an iced coffee. Our drinks came out first. My juice, which was called tropical bliss, was very tangy. It was ok, but I wish it wasn’t that tangy. Kelly wasn’t a fan of her iced coffee. I tried it and it just tasted like milk. No flavour really. Our food came out and my wrap was good. I do prefer the Zeus Greek one but this was still ok. Kelly said she didn’t mind her taco plate but probably wouldn’t order it again.

After lunch, we still had a bit of time before the ferry was due to come so we went for a walk. As we walked, we did find some other places we could’ve eaten at. There were quite a few really. We walked past a Mexican and Thai place and they were really quiet. However there were still quite a few restaurants and bars that were closed. We headed towards the water and walked a long there till we got to the wharf. We found a shady spot to wait in till the ferry came. As it was close to the arrival time, we headed to the waiting area and there was a small line already. There was shade there so everyone was just waiting undercover. I couldn’t see the ferry but the line started moving and heading out onto the actual jetty. But there’s no shade there. Luckily it didn’t feel too hot and there was sometimes a breeze that would come through which was nice. The ferry came and just as we were walking towards the ferry to board, some kids were jumping off the jetty splashing us with water. I could see it happening and no way to avoid it. Some women in front of me weren’t very happy. The kids could’ve waited till there wasn’t a line anymore, but of course, kids these days don’t care about others. It was nice quiet ride back to Palm beach and easy drive home after that.

Monday 27 Jan 2025|Shelley Beach - Manly

This morning we woke up early. We had planned to leave to catch the bus at 0700. As we got down to Pittwater road, the road was empty. I’ve never seen it this empty before. Luckily the bus stop isn’t far at all. The bus came and it was fairly quiet. Although I expected it to be empty at that time. Looking on the maps, Manly doesn’t seem that far from Dee Why at all. But driving and catching the bus there, seems like a bit away. We got off at the wharf and walked along the corso. It was quiet as well. Then we got to the beach and it seemed like normal traffic. And by normal I mean busy. Cyclists, runners, walkers, dogs. It’s always busy there.

We got to Shelley Beach and it was fairly quiet. There were a few people in the water, some with the swimming caps most likely doing the swim to Manly or returning. Some snorkelers and some divers too. I was wearing my rashie and keen to see how it does as I’ve never worn one before. We grabbed our snorkels and made our way into the water. The water was a bit cool. But we dived in. We made the mistake of getting in through the middle. It was mirky and not much to see at all. We made our way towards the rocks on the left and could see little bit more there, although it still wasn’t very clear. The water was pretty choppy too.

We did manage to see a few fish there. We both saw the blue groper and some other colourful fish. But we kept losing each other. I’d look up an couldn’t find Kelly among the waves. I’d find her and we‘d swim together for a bit then get separated again. Plus looking around, the sun was blinding which made it even harder to spot each other. But as mentioned we managed to still see some fish and I think the rashie worked fairly well as I didn’t even notice getting cold.

After getting out and trying to dry off, we made our way back to the corso. Kelly got a coffee and I got a frappe. The frappe was nicer than the juice I had the other day and Kelly liked her coffee. We headed to the wharf and sat down to finish our drinks while watching Supball. The wharf is where you can hire sup boards but you’re a bit limited to where you can go. Kelly has hired from here before with her family and said it was good but she’d rather be able to explore a bit more. We do have the plan of renting them in Narrabeen and heading towards the lagoon. I’ve never done it before so would be interesting to try.

Once we finished our drinks we walked to the bus stop and luckily there was a bus already there. The ride back was a little bit longer as there were more people on the bus at this time getting on and off. But the bus stops pretty close to Kelly’s place, much better than the bus stop for the B1 which is just under a 10min walk. Once home, it was time for lunch which meant burgers again.

Overall it was a productive weekend. Seemed like we did a lot without going too far or spending long days out. It wasn’t too hot but it was sunny which was nice. We couldn’t totally avoid the crowds but at least we weren’t stuck in any. I think we planned it well, being able to do a number of activities which was mostly quiet. We also timed it well to not really be out and about during peak times.