Our sixth anniversary had arrived and we had managed to score baby sitting for the day. The original plan was to go out for a lovely meal, but we always do that as we don’t want to be away from the kids for too long. Time to mix it up a bit. I scoured the wildwalks.com.au website for a satisfying walk and found one that began at Taronga Zoo (Sydney Australia), past the location where we got married and ending at Balmoral Beach for fish and chips. Perfect!

The trip began with a ferry ride across Sydney harbour, something I’ll never get tired of doing. There was a sea lion resting on the pontoon at the Opera House- a wonderful sight showing the Harbour is becoming much cleaner. It’s also a sign that the fairy penguins at Manly were big enough to eat…

The ferry docked at the zoo and instead of following the crowds into the zoo we turned right and headed off.  The views were amazing.

The track was used by the locals for jogging and there were lots of families out doing a smaller section of the walk. After forty minutes or so of walking we found their destination as Bradley’s Head came into view. The foremast of the destroyer HMAS Sydney is kept here as a memorial and it would be a lovely place for a picnic. We remarked that this little trip would be awsome for the kids to do as we could head into the zoo to watch the seal show on the way back.

The walk carried on past memorial trees that were planted for every fallen ship in the navy, a plaque in front bearing the name of each ship.

The walk carried on past Clifton gardens, where we paused for a bite to eat on a seat overlooking the Harbour and enviously looked over our shoulders as the rich folk mansions behind us that enjoyed this view day in day out. I wonder if they still notice?

After Clifton gardens came “The Gunners Barracks”, where we got married. I had thought it would be fitting to pass by this on our anniversary but for some reason had not understood how nice it would feel! Our wedding was such a fun day and the staff at the barracks were amazing. We have a photo u in our house in front of an old rusty door set in the old stonework of the barracks so we decided to recreate it!

It was one of those “awwwww” moments that make you smile inside.

The rest of the walk was just lovely. There were giant termite nests in the trees, tiny streams, kookaburras and other birds.  After a total walk of about two and a half hours we arrived at Balmoral Beach. My knee was hurting from the descent so I really need to get that checked before the next big hike. My wife’s foot was also playing up so we were glad to be able to rest for a while. We ate our fish and chips on the wharf, dangling our feet over the sand. It was a lovely day.