I walked from Manly to Bondi (and think I only cheated once)

A few weeks ago, on an unseasonably warm (if there’s still such a thing) winter weekend, I walked from Manly to Bondi. The track, which officially “opened” in 2019, connects our two most famous beaches over an epic 80-kilometre harbourside trail.

I once tweeted somewhat naively that I thought I could manage the journey in a single day. When push came to shove, I opted for a more leisurely itinerary over two days, with an overnight rest at a city hotel.

I only cheated once. Credit: SMH

If you’ve ever contemplated the challenge, let me say at the outset: don’t delay. Nowhere else in the world could you traverse such a spectacular natural setting in the heart of the city. It is beautiful, it is spectacular, it is free, and it’s right there for the taking.

My Saturday started later than I’d hoped after I missed the ferry from Circular Quay by a minute. I didn’t feel like swimming it – this wasn’t a biathlon after all. Docking at Manly Wharf at 8.30am, I decided to ditch the North Head loop and just get moving.

As I worked my way around Dobroyd Head, I passed quiet little beaches that don’t appear on any of the brochures: Forty Baskets Beach, Reef Bay, Washaway Beach. At Clontarf Reserve, an early picnic was underway that was so elaborate it could have been a small wedding.

I crossed Spit Bridge and ran into a political staffer, who kindly offered me a lift up the hill. Given my earlier cheating at North Head, I declined. I had a guilt-free brunch at Balmoral and made my way around Middle Head. Mosman seemed to go on forever, a never-ending citadel of wealth.

One suburb, many “urban localities”: Mosman seems to go on forever.Credit: Michael Koziol

The walking trail was the brainchild of two political operators: former federal Labor minister John Faulkner and Lachlan Harris, former press secretary to Kevin Rudd, who created a not-for-profit to bring together the various public landholders and promote the walk.

It is signposted, mostly by little yellow and black tiles adorned with the official symbol (a fish with footsteps). But it’s patchy. At some junctions, you’ll spend a fair bit of time looking around for the little fish to guide you. As a Sydneysider who knows his way around, I was fine, but were I a hapless tourist who doesn’t know which way is north, I might have a bit of trouble.

By 3pm I was starting to flail. Kirribilli was lovely (hi Albo), and you absolutely never tire of crossing the bridge on foot, but it’s a long day. I was staying at the Ovolo in Woolloomooloo, where’s there’s a giant, much-needed bath waiting for me, enriched by a bath bomb from a nearby chemist. Day one clocked in at just under 37 kilometres.

Day two: the eastern suburbs. Some would say God’s territory. This leg of the journey contained both the highlight, which is the stunning vistas of the Hermitage Foreshore Walk around Vaucluse, and the lowlight, which is the final stretch from Watsons Bay to Bondi Beach. Sadly for the ocean, after hours and hours of sparking harbour views, the endless blue abyss just can’t compare. I did see whales, though.

Some would call it God’s territory, but I’m not sure he could afford it. Credit: Domain

The entire Waverley section fell a bit flat, mostly because you are forced away from the cliff walk into the suburban streets of Dover Heights, which are not as majestic as the waterfront mansions. Ongoing repairs and safety works are to blame, but mayor Paula Masselos promises: “It will be beautiful when it’s done.”

I arrived at the centre of the universe, the North Bondi Grassy Knoll, just after 3pm. Day two’s trek was 27.5 kilometres, and I realised I’d somehow cut about 15 kilometres from the advertised length of the route. My calves are grateful.

Lessons? One, Sydney is spectacularly beautiful. It’s trite, but there’s no getting away from it. Two, this joint is filthy rich. I struggle to fathom the cumulative worth of the properties I have walked past, but it would be in the hundreds of billions of dollars, if not a trillion.

Third, we should be showing off this gem of an attraction much more than we do. Sydneysiders, naturally, are aware it’s there. But others are falling over themselves to trek through the middle of nowhere in Tasmania when we’ve got one of the world’s great walks right here in our (obscenely expensive) backyards.

Day two: Rose Bay. Credit: Michael Koziol

Lachlan Harris, the walk’s co-founder, says it’s only the beginning for what he believes will be our Cinque Terre or Pilgrims’ Way - “probably the defining multi-day walk of Australia and one of the great multi-day urban walks of the world”.

“You can be in the middle of the city and feel like you’re a million miles from anywhere. You get a sense of what this place was like when the Indigenous people were managing the land,” he says.

Harris loves the “liminal space” between the urbanity of the city and the natural wonder of the Sydney basin, the second most biodiverse region in Australia after Kakadu.

“I don’t even think we have the vocabulary to talk about it yet,” he says. “It’ll take time, but we are moving ahead.

“It’s the best walking city in the world, but we need one great walk to really put us on the map and that’s exactly what Bondi to Manly can be.”

Michael Koziol is Sydney editor.