The nature escape just 45 minutes from the city

I’ll admit, before we moved to the area in 2015 all I knew about Hornsby was that it had a major train station, a hospital and a Westfield, and it was where you connected with the freeway when escaping to the North Coast.

My partner and I had come to the realisation that we could no longer shoehorn our family of four into a tiny two bed terrace in Enmore (now, that’s a great suburb!), so joined other refugees from the inner suburbs in search of a slice of nature, a bigger house and an affordable mortgage.

Gang life in Hornsby Shire. Credit: Brook Mitchell

What we found, in the quiet locale 45 minutes north of the city, blessed with good schools, parks and playgrounds that attracted other families, was a home among the trees.

Bordered by two national parks, life in Hornsby centres around the bush.

The suburb has become a jumping off point for the 250-kilometre Great North Walk from Sydney’s CBD to Newcastle, with a stretch of the popular trek winding along the Berowra Valley through Galston Gorge and down to the Hawkesbury. Walkers, trail runners and mountain bikers tackle the many tracks that branch throughout the pristine forests and sandstone ridges, without it ever feeling crowded.

Living so close to the national park, encounters with wildlife are common. Wallabies bound through the backyard, echidnas and lyrebirds rustle in the undergrowth of the garden. There is the cacophony of birdlife – king parrots, rosellas, kookaburras and gangs of sulphur-crested cockatoos (which remind me of spiky haired London punks or the droogs from Clockwork Orange), and the occasional owl or eagle. My daughters have adopted a pair of lorikeets who noisily demand a handful of oats each afternoon.

The Blue Gum Walk is a short stroll from Hornsby train station.

At 510 square kilometres, Hornsby Shire is so large you can set off on a day trip without leaving the council area (a godsend during the second COVID-19 lockdown). There’s the spectacular, winding drive into the Galston Gorge, through the semi-rural Arcadia and Berrilee, to scenic Berowra Waters for fish and chips and a stroll.

The ferry ride across the Hawkesbury to Dangar Island offers a glimpse of another way of life, where, to the outsider, the short stretch of river insulates the carless community of 300 from the stresses and strains of the modern world.

Best cafe?

The hole in the wall Refinery Espresso just off Peats Ferry Road. Great coffee for the grown-ups and smoothies and chai lattes for the kids. What more do you need?

Refinery Espresso off Peats Ferry Road. Great coffee, but what about some nightlife.Credit: Brook Mitchell

Best restaurant?

The Pho Ngon Vietnamese restaurant near the station makes a mean rare beef pho, and does a roaring trade in takeaway banh mi throughout the day.

Best beach, park or pool?

The Hornsby Aquatic and Leisure Centre caters for all comers – kids learning to swim, serious and not so serious lap swimmers, and those just wanting to cool off – and has an incredible view over the nearby bushland.

Nearby, the Crosslands Reserve campground has a beach for swimming or kayaking in the Berowra Creek. Further afield, but still within the local council area, a dip in the Hawkesbury River at Brooklyn Baths is another option.

The Brooklyn foreshore, north of Sydney, with Dangar Island to the right.Credit: Dion Georgopoulos

First place you take visitors?

Blue Gum Walk in the Berowra Valley National Park. A stunning bushwalk through a forest of critically endangered Blue Gums, nearly lost to logging, with sweeping views of valleys dotted with eucalypts, angophora, old man banksia, tree ferns and Sydney Turpentines. It’s just four kilometres long, so even young kids can give it a go.

Perfect night out in your suburb?

Can I say enjoying a few drinks while watching the sun set over the national park? Self-sufficiency and making your own fun is a key to living in Hornsby (see below).

Hornsby is blessed with plenty of parks and playgrounds.Credit: Brook Mitchell

What would make your suburb better?

Nightlife. Of any sort. Whoever coined the phrase “the north snore” may have had Hornsby in mind. The main drag Peats Ferry Road has potential, with a handful of restaurants and even the 1910s era Odeon Cinema. It just needs someone to inject the strip with a bit of vitality.

Best secret spot in your suburb?

Most Hornsby locals would have a secret spot in the bush where they can escape the noise of daily life and bathe in their surroundings. The tranquil Japanese-style Lisgar Gardens comes to mind. But for me, it’s a hidden sandstone outcrop on Joes Mountain, the Waitara Creek burbling below, discovered during the COVID-19 lockdowns.

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