Think you know Sydney because you had tapas in Bondi? Think you’ve seen the flora because you hiked ten minutes from the carpark to the boathouse at Lane Cove National Park? You know nothing Jon Snow… here are five new, semi-secret, under-rated and marvellous venues for you to explore around Sydney this weekend.
Harry’s at Bondi
Follow @harrysbondi for more instagoodness like this.
Cool people go to Harry’s (this is not an opinion, it’s a fact). If you go there you will become cool by osmosis (also fact) – it is impossible to avoid, it will seep into you. The food and coffee are mostly organic, inventive, extremely healthy and on top of that – still delicious. Seriously – you could bathe in the Coconut Chia Pudding and die happy. The coffee is the best in Bondi (and I say this is as someone who has had coffee at nearly every venue in Bondi… even McDonalds). If it is crowded, which it often is, don’t despair, grab a takeaway and head to the Bondi Markets – food markets on Saturday and artisan markets on Sunday. You can get yourself some organic kale, homemade yoghurt or the finest organic cosmetics possible from VanessaMegan. And when you are done you can go BACK to Harry’s for lunch – the Chickpea salad is better that most things you have ever eaten before.
Sydney Olympic Park – Homebush
No, I’m not being sarcastic, and I do not mean the outlets. Homebush has a crowded, chaotic and dangerously fun aquatic centre where you may or may not have a car to come back to after your swim. But it also has bike tracks that meander passed the waterfront and a few old shipwrecks. You can ride off the calories you ingested at one of the Lilies on the Park’s High Tea events and then return in time to ingest a few more at Mexica. There is archery, ropes courses, cinema, art shows and dance events. All of it is affordable and its less crowded than the other side of the city. You just have to force yourself to drive PAST Ikea to get there… good luck with that.
Nielsen Park
Find out more about Nielsen Park at http://www.nationalparks.nsw.gov.au/
Like a bit of history with your swim? Grab a coffee at the Nielsen Park Café which is housed in a building that was once owned by William Wentworth. The building was also a neonatal hospital after 1911 and is now the visitors centre for the Sydney Harbour National Park. It is also an archaeological site for the Eora people and there are shell middens all along the walk towards Rose Bay.
It is a great place to swim. There is a huge shark net that allows you to swim in relative safety (I mean it is Australia and it is the Harbour – you wouldn’t want it to be too easy!). Mostly it is deep, dark and smooth, though occasionally, after a cyclone you can even surf the bay. My favourite part of the beach is the rocky walk at the Eastern end where there is hundreds of pieces of muted and mottled sea glass ready to be collected as well as the chance to see one of Australia’s most rare creatures – the Eastern Quoll (I didn’t see one).
Karloo Pools at the Royal National Park
This one is beautiful secret. If you take the Waterfall train line from Central or Bondi Junction, and get off at Heathcote station you are about fifty metres from the start of the Karloo Pools hiking track in the Royal National Park. Summer is obviously the best time for this and you’ll need slatherings of something that contains both insect repellent AND sunscreen, but about an hour of walking takes you to a large, deep and relatively eel free swimming hole with flat rocks that will double as a picnic and (responsible) sunbathing space. Takes drinks with you and chill them in the tiny waterfalls while you swim and then take a mandatory nap amongst the trees. If you hike a little further there are camping areas, but Karloo is a comfortable day hike.
The Winery in Surry Hills.
Its almost like being in Tuscany, with its vine covered tables and extensive beverage menu, but with the parking problems of Sydney. If you can manage a weekday, the Winery can be a lovely place to sit and write poetry (because someone, somewhere has the sort of life that allows them to sit midweek in Sydney and write poetry), and on the weekends – the more people you can crowd around one of their long tables the better – they do an olive tapas bowl that is more addictive than… any number of other vices… lets go with binge watching Portlandia. It’s better even than that.
Stop reading – it’s nearly the weekend. Get yourself to Sydney and see how many of these you can cross off your new bucket list. At least two or you just aren’t ambitious enough.
Lynnette Lounsbury is the Editor of Ytravel and a lecturer in Communications at Avondale College. She loves writing, reading, listening and people watching and thinks one of the answers to the age old question “Why are we here?” is – “To spend your weekends in Sydney.” Seriously, have you seen Bronte Beach? When she wrote this post she immediately texted her friend Brock…. (you know that friend you have who is constantly “venueing” and posting gorgeous pictures about it?)… to get his advice. He had so many suggestions there will be another post next week with cool Sydney stuff. You can follow Brock on instagram at @brockgoodhill.