In Part Two of our backwards Bondi to Manly Walk, we did the 10 kilometre section from Manly Wharf to the Spit (though we made it a 12.2 kilometre walk with a side trip).
Amanda drove us to the north side of the Spit Bridge, where we left the car and caught a bus back to Manly Wharf. Across the road from Manly Uniting Church (1924) in Gilbert Park, a flock of Sulphur-crested Cockatoos was breakfasting.
The early part of this section follows the Fairlight Walk, past Delwood Beach, Fairlight Beach and Manly Boatshed.
A brief rest at Forty Baskets Beach, so named because on a single afternoon in 1885, local fishermen caught 40 baskets of fish here. The story goes that the fish went to feed soldiers recently returned from the Mahdist War in Sudan, who were quarantining at the Quarantine Station across the harbour.
A Little Pied Cormorant flew low over the sea. A Rainbow Lorikeet was hunting for a new hollow. Several handsome Magpies were socialising.
From a lookout on the Dobroyd Head Track, the historic Crater Cove Huts can be seen.
A little further on, we took our side trip down the Grotto Point Track – because.. Lighthouse!
The Grotto Point Lighthouse was built in 1910, first lit in 1911. It works in tandem with the Rosherville Light (see below) to mark the channel into Port Jackson.
A good spot for lunch, with some spectacular harbour views.
The extra two and half kilometres that the Grotto Point side-trip added to our walk paid for itself on the way back up the track, when we spotted this pretty little fella: the Grey Shrike-thrush (Colluricinca harmonica).
The Rosherville Light on Parriwi Road told us we were nearly back at the Spit.
In Shell Cove, a lone Rainbow Lorikeet was feasting on flowers.
Bramandagram 