Day 46 - Where'd Everyone Go

While I was in New Zealand Rick told me that he and the family would be going out of town the weekend I returned.  They were traveling about 6 hours south to attend a birthday celebration for a lifelong friend so I tried not to take it personally that they left the day after I returned :-).....

I woke early on Saturday to tell goodbye....and went back to bed. When I woke again I made breakfast and started the first of 3 loads of laundry.  I hung around the house doing a few odds and ends until the last load of wash finished so I could get it all hung outside to dry. While I waited I made a quick lunch and once I hung the last load I headed out to Palm Beach. 

Palm Beach (Google, Wiki, Images) is the most northern of the "northern beaches" of Sydney and is about a 25 minute drive from Mona Vale.  It sits on a peninsula between Broken Bay and the Tasman (South) Sea and there is a lighthouse on the hill at the end of the peninsula with a stunning view. I had wanted to come here since the first week I arrived but couldn't work it into my schedule so I was excited to see it.

When I arrived at Palm Beach I purchased a 2 hour parking pass and headed for the beach.  The weather was perfect, the beach was beautiful, the water was warm and the waves were big.  Believe it or not this was actually the first time, after being in AU for a 1.5 months, that I actually got into the ocean (more than just wading).  I stayed in for probably 30-40 minutes until I was beaten into submission.  :-)  Then I got out and just relaxed on the beach and watched the surfers for a while.

After I left the beach I decided to walk up to the lighthouse.  The path to the lighthouse begins on the beach on the bay side.  The beach on this side is much smaller and the water is much calmer, but it's still very pretty.....

The hike to the lighthouse is short but steep.  As you start up you get a great view of the bay and once you get closer to the top you get an excellent view of the narrow, and quite beautiful, peninsula....

The view at the top of the Tasman Sea and Broken Bay are really beautiful....

After a while I returned to the car and drove back to Mona Vale where I stopped at the grocery, picked up some food and made a nice "surf & turf" for dinner.....

It was another really good day....and all within 30 minutes of Mona Vale. Yeah, Rick and his family live in a pretty great area. :-)

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