Two of the most popular beaches in Sydney are Bondi and Manly, which, unfortunately, during summertime, are terribly crowded. It is usually hard to enjoy the scene or even get a vacant parking lot. An alternative with a more quiet vibe and still stays within 1-hour-driving distance is Palm Beach, at the northern suburb of Sydney CBD. After my trip to Great Ocean Road, I craved for more beach atmosphere so Palm Beach became my next weekend destination.
Quiet beach
View of Palm beach from the parking lot
A quiet beach
After chilling at the beach, my friends and I decided to hike to the lighthouse. It seems near, we thought.
The hike to lighthouse Barrenjoey
A track leading to another beach
It turned out that in order to reach the lighthouse, we needed to go from the other side of Palm Beach. The path was pretty long.
Picturesque frame along the hike
The water at the other side is fairly quiet so there are more people
There are two tracks to the lighthouse: Barrenjoey, also the name of the lighthouse, and Smugglers. The former is longer and easier while the latter is faster and steeper. I recommend taking Barrenjoey track as the way up and Smugglers track as the way down.
Barrenjoey Lighthouse on blue sky
Barrenjoey Lighthouse
The walk is totally around 45 minute from the parking lot and around 30min from the foot of the hill. Barrenjoey Lighthouse, constructed in 1881, is at the most northern point of Sydney. An interesting fact about it is the unpainted sandstone quarried at the lighthouse. The site looks original and still have its heritage value.
The panoramic view of Broken Bay is impressive. People said that you should bring binoculars to watch whales in the months between May and September. I know this only after the trip when reading about Palm Beach on National Parks website so I know have more reasons to come back to Palm Beach.
Broken Bay
Thank you for visiting my site today. See you in the next post.
