Castlecrag bush walk

You don't have to be in the bush to feel like you're in the bush. Just a 15 minute drive from Sydney's CBD is Castlecrag. As the name suggests it has its very own castle, although, according to Wikipedia, "Castlecrag was originally planned by Walter Burley Griffin, who named the suburb after a towering crag of rock overlooking Middle Harbour, known locally as Edinburgh Castle." Of course our son was most interested in the suburb's actual castle so we whizzed past the privately owned 'castle' which was once a !

I love this about Sydney. There are so many nooks and crannies to explore - urban and bush. I know we'll never ever see them all. I always wonder what Sydney must have been like before British settlement. Fortunately there are many parts of Sydney which have been preserved. If irresponsible dog owners would just keep their dogs out of these parts we could see these areas retaining native wildlife long in to the future.

There are a number of walks in the Castlecrag area but we chose to do the Harold Reid Walk.The walk runs along the oyster-clad foreshore under casuarinas (sheoaks) and among Xanthorea Australis' (grass trees). The day of our walk there was a light sprinkling of rain which massaged the nostrils with fresh bush scent. Bliss!

It was an easy walk for kids and included a good amount of 'rock climbing' for the more adventurous kids. What's a bush walk without a cake break? A little leftover Persian love cake did the treat!