Well I didn’t expect today’s plans to do Sydney’s 7 Bridges walk to be interrupted by movie stars but that what happened!
This walk is promoted by the Cancer Council as a one day charity event but it can be walked at anytime of the year (Donate here). It takes you on a tour of the harbour crossing Sydney Harbour Bridge, Pyrmont Bridge, Anzac Bridge, Iron Cove Bridge, Gladesville Bridge, Tarban Creek Bridge and Fig Tree Bridge. I planned to depart from the main route between Fig Tree and Sydney Harbour bridges to try to see a little more shoreline and greenery- an excellent choice as you’ll see.
I had planned to start at Milson’s point and do a dawn walk across the Syndey Harbour Bridge but whilst on the train I learned that it was closed until 10am while filming was happening for a stunt for Ryan Gosling’s new Fall Guy movie, based on the old 80’s TV show).I could see all the film crews and cameras from the train window – which was still allowed to cross the bridge. There were cars set up at certain spots -and a bus parked half way. There was a helicopter circling. It would have been awesome to see them go into action but the train whisked me away.
Leaving Wynyard station I walked down to King Street Wharf. The city was so quiet. There were a few people out running, lots of birds eating scattered chips, workers tidying up the city from the night before. I saw an old sailing ship replica across the bay at the Maritime Museum. It was all so peaceful but also felt like a city preparing itself to do it all again. Just taking a breather before the crowds returned.
Pyrmont Bridge is an old swing bridge that still functions. It opens a few times a day for the tourists but also as needed for taller boats. It crosses Darling harbour and joins to cockle bay wharf and is a great spot to watch to regular summer fireworks.
After a short walk along the foreshore of Pyrmont I saw bridge 2 – Anzac Bridge, formally known as Glebe Island Bridge. It’s a suspension bridge and has statues of Anzac soldiers at the end. I had a choice here whether to get off and cut thru the suburbs to reach the shore of the next bay or carry along the path from the bridge. It felt like the wrong choice seeking the greenery or views of Rozelle Bay as there was a lot of construction work and I had trouble finding the right route coming off the bridge. I soon figured I needed to drop down a level and found the shared walking/cycle way. However that just put me back where the path from the bridge would have led me so I wasted a bit of time here. After that though there was a lovely walk through the grounds surrounding the Sydney College of the Arts. I found a little side trail that took me through the bush down to the bay. I’m a sucker for a secret trail and I loved every second of it. The foreshore had a sculpture of three fish traps that would have been used by the Aboriginal people that lived in this area. It was beside the concrete pathway that is now used by runners as part of their morning routine (it’s called the bay run).
I could see the Iron Cove Bridge (bridge 3 of 7!) from the bay run and it was chock full of runners! This is a steel truss bridge and is very busy. As I walked over it I just stuck to one side to let the runners pass. I walked along Victoria road and stopped in for breakfast at McDonalds, making a mockery of the well thought out packed lunch I had brought with me!
The next three bridges were all a bit dull. Roads really rather that anything worth attracting a tourist. It was nicest when I was off them connecting one to the other. There were some nice views but the rain had come down and I was grumpy so I just didn’t enjoy this bit. Thankfully they were close together and it didn’t last long.
I really enjoyed the next part though! The official route goes along the road but I plotted a route to take me through the greenery. I found a lovely old sandstone bridge at Tambourine Bay Reserve, a proper Bushwalk on the Tambourine Track with rock shelters and mud and a salt marsh with submerged trees. On the gore cove track was Lillipilly falls – I had no idea there was a waterfall so close to the centre of Sydney! I could have been in a Bushwalk in a national park ! It was amazing to see! The walk passed numerous small falls and and the like as it followed Berrys creek. A very lush area of Sydney! It was raining constantly but I didn’t mind as everything was just beautiful.
I carried on around to Berry’s Island, which I had visited many years ago. I had a lovely little loop walk that passed Aboriginal Engravings and gave some lovely views of the harbour. I couldn’t understand the engravings but i did make out a boomerang. I kept catching up to a lady that was out for a peaceful stroll so I forced myself to slow down and take it all in rather than power past her, stop for a view, have her pass me then repeat!
I only had so much time available to me today so I skipped a side trip to Balls head and will do that on the way to work one day as it promises both Aboriginal history and industrial history amongst the trees and views. So I powered on along the road to Milson’s point and climbed the steps to put me on the walkway of the Sydney Harbour Bridge!
There were not too many people on the bridge as it was still raining and the views were lousy. But I’d crossed the last bridge and was feeling pretty good still. This is the first long walk (over 20km) that I’d done in a very long time and I feel like my fitness, or making just my confidence in myself to do a long walk had returned. I did almost 28 kilometres in 6hrs 48m with breaks. I will return to the Tamborine Track and Gore Cove track one day with the kids as it would be an excellent adventure for them! In all I really enjoyed this walk even in the rain! I highly recommend giving it a go. If you like the group events the Cancer Council do this track as an event each year and I’ve left the donation link below as I wouldn’t know about this route if it wasn’t for this event. I recommend giving the track a go, throwing in whatever side trips you like as it’s a fantastic day out. Hope you get a little sunshine!
Solo Hiker 