Almost 2 years ago, Nov. 3, 2019, I randomly stumbled onto a trail not far from my apartment. I had gone out to test some small attachable lenses for my phone. These were wide angle and close up lenses made for phone cameras. They were cheap, so I didn’t expect much, but I thought they would be fun to play with.
I found myself on an unexpectedly beautiful hike from Dee Why Beach to North Curl Curl Beach, on the Northern Beaches of Sydney, AU. It’s a 1.6 km walk, 45 min one way. Unfortunately it started to rain so I only made it about 1/3 of the way before needing to turn back.
This is the trail that inspired my further exploration of the Northern Beaches Headlands and beach trails. Although it was a very overcast day, it was late Spring and many native plants were still blooming. Some of the native plants have very tiny buds and are hard to capture, especially when the wind is blowing. It’s usually windy by the ocean and on the cliffs.
I was not happy with the distortion and focus issues of these detachable lenses but the scenery was spectacular anyway. To the right of the trail below are beautiful houses and sometimes apartments. And to the left is the majestic Pacific Ocean far below. Imagine if this was your backyard!
I still have not completed the full trail in one go, but I’ve hiked the Curl Curl end and the middle on two different occasions. There’s just too much to photograph so my camera gets more exercise than I do. I’ll post the other images of the Curl Curl cliffs and the middle section soon.
But yesterday I decided to explore this walk starting at Dee Why again. Much had changed, scrub cleared away for even better views. The trail was more worn down with more rocks and roots exposed, but there were also more guardrails. I have some knee problems so the trail seemed more difficult this time (due to covid weight gain or I could just be getting old). I was not intending to take photos, I just wanted to walk a bit. But my phone camera had other ideas.
Spring has only just started, Sept. 3, 2021, but I felt it was as beautiful as ever. The wind was harsh though, so once again I didn’t go too far. Someday I I hope to complete the entire hike in one go when it’s not too hot, not too windy or raining, not overcrowded because of covid, and it’s in full bloom. Until then I’ll settle for doing it in sections while filling my phone with beauty.
CSRoth 