How much more wet weather can Sydney take? A LOT apparently.
We’ve already spent our water credits for 2017 and the word on the meteorology street is there’s more in store. Lucky us.
Look, we enjoy a rogue weekend caved up on the couch with Game of Thrones as much as anyone but a diet of pure show-streaming is like eating a burger every day. At first it’s a naughty thrill but inevitably you’re going to start questioning your life.
So we’ve come up with a few low-effort high-reward outdoorsy solutions to Sunday boredom.
Not only do you get to see a side of your city you rarely explore but it’s a great perspective shift before the work week begins. A reminder that there’s a whole universe outside and if you don’t get your quarterly reports in on time the world won’t come crashing down.
But before we get into that…
Why #HeyTosser?
No, we’re not surreptitiously abusing you through hashtag. We actually only reserve that for the special kind of jerks we see who literally toss rubbish out of their car windows on to our roads.
75% of marine debris in Sydney has been sourced back to our local area, washed down by the kinds of storms we’ve been seeing over the state recently. That’s millions of cigarette butts, drink bottle and plastic wrappers that float down into our creeks and rivers, largely ignored by humans but often mistaken for food by native seabirds and ocean life.
If you see someone toss something out of their vehicle there IS SOMETHING YOU CAN DO.
Visit Report to EPA and follow the prompts.
To report littering from a vehicle online you need to:
• Have actually seen the litter being thrown, or blown, from the vehicle
• Be able to provide the vehicle registration details and the location where the littering took place
• Report the incident within 14 days
• Register the first time you make a report
It’s something positive we can all do to help create a cleaner, healthier environment for all of us to enjoy. Always remember to take your rubbish with you and put it in the bin.
Cottage Point (& Cottage Point Inn)
Approximately 52 minutes from Sydney city
Like with any ‘hike’ there are inevitable hurdles to overcome, in this case you have to clear the outer suburbs traffic which we all know isn’t the most inspiring activity.
However, just hold on until you nestle into the A38 freeway and hit the Roseville Bridge on your way to Ku-Ring-Gai National Park. For some reason this portion of the freeway always puts us in the good mood as your car feels like it’s floating over the smooth currents of Middle Harbour and the road gets hugged by the sandstone rock faces on the other side.
Things really start to open up once you turn off into Mccarrs Creek Road and on towards the final stretch of General San Martin Drive.
Here you’re flanked by the type of Australian bush that people write poems about. Everything feels slightly singed from decades old bushfires but with flourishes of fresh green from new sprouts determined to take over.
On a sunny day you might take this for granted but after a rainy deluge with a little mist in the air, the whole place feels very otherworldly, especially when you spy yachts winding through the waterways between breaks in the undergrowth.
Tucked away at your destination, hidden down by the water you’ll find the iconic Cottage Point Inn, one of Sydney’s most remote and renowned restaurants.
It’s a venue that takes its cues firmly from the Australian landscape, with the menu peppered with ingredients direct from the local bush and the waterways become part of the show, when people pause mid-lunch to watch the local seaplane pull up to the pontoon and unload fresh hungry revellers.
Berowra Waters (& Berowra Waters Inn)
Approximately 59 minutes from Sydney city
The heart of this journey will take you onto the cusp of beautiful Berowra Valley National Park but not before it sucks your soul a little bit dry along the Pacific Motorway.
Look, we know that slogging it out on this grey stretch of asphalt can get a little monotonous and it can be easy to feel a world away from nature when you’re lined with stripmalls but once you take the turnoff into Berowra Heights (just past Mount Ku-Ring-Gai) it starts to all make sense as the scenery almost instantly shifts into jungle.
That’s the unique thing about Sydney; it’s a world-class city with nature just itching to take over if we just give it half a chance.
Back to the drive. Words can’t quite sum up how fun it is to wind down the steep turns of Berowra Waters Road, except to say that because you sometimes have to take it slow, it builds some serious anticipation as you pass under the thick canopies of ferns. Eventually you pop out at the Berowra Waters Ferry stop which houses a tiny little waterfront restaurant, ‘A Chef Secrets’, featuring slow cooked Italian specialties.
If you’re in the mood to take things up a notch (or 10), park your car and hike a little along the Hawkesbury Track to catch a ferry to Berowra Waters Inn, another hard-to-reach but oh-so-awarded eatery that’s only accessible by boat or seaplane.
This is one of those outdoorsy Sydney experiences that’s made for those clear sunny days when the sun makes the water shine like diamonds. However, there’s a certain… let’s call it schadenfreude… that comes from being cosied up against a picture window as the world gets whipped into a frenzy while a storm looms outside.
West Head Lookout
Approximately 1 hour from Sydney city
We’re sorry to say there’s no fancy restaurant at the end of this drive but what it might lack in foodie sustenance, it more than makes up for in eye-wateringly beautiful views across to Pittwater and Barrenjoey Lighthouse.
This time you want to head back to Ku-Ring-Gai Chase National Park along the A38 but this time, instead of taking the turnoff into General San Martin Drive, follow Mccarrs Creek Road as it weaves its way towards the switch into West Head Road.
You’ll quickly learn why this route has long been notorious for drag racing (which we obviously don’t recommend). The curves dip and sway like a symphony with the trees whistling past your window in time with your heartbeat.
What we’re saying is it’s extremely exhilarating and the perfect cure for when the Sydney traffic has you beating your head against the steering wheel.
Come here, drive and be restored.
Powered by Hey Tosser! Put It In The Bin #heytosser #putitinthebin #reportatosser
If you see a tosser littering out of their car, report them to Report to EPA
