Long Reef to Newport 2nd Oct 2010
We have a dilema!!
If you’ve read our previous blogs you may have noticed that all our training walks have finished in Newport…..Why? The simple answer is Cocoa Bar….a cafe which serves delicious banana bread, cinnamon brioche toast and silky smooth coffee.This mornings’ training walk from Long Reef to Newport is our longest yet, around 12km. Not before we take a few photo’s do we leave Long Reef golf club behind us at 7.50am and make our way north along the beautiful coastline. The gents, Peter and Jason, assume their position ahead of Michelle and I, setting the pace for the morning. The chatting begins covering topics of holidays, family, business, food, goals, wishes and dreams…and that is just Michelle and I, the gents find plenty to talk about too….flying, sailing, technology and the weather to mention just a few. The skies are not as bright or blue as our previous walks and we’re all preparing for a sprinkling this morning, what we haven’t bargained for is the deluge! The trees in the reserve near Narrabeen offer little protection from the driving rain & within minutes we are soaked to the skin and our shoes are squelching. This doesn’t dampen our spirits though, we’re on a mission…..to get to Cocoa bar. Thoughts of warm banana bread & hot coffee keep us going.The rain eventually stops and clouds disappear to offer some rays of sunshine which not only help to dry up the roads, but us too! We take advantage of clearer skies and stop occasionally to admire the view and capture it with a photo or 2, all the while hoping for a glimpse of a whale out to sea. We see Newport in our sights and our well earned refreshments are now within reach.
You may be wondering what our dilema is?? We’re training for a 100km walk from Palm Beach to Coogee (non-stop) and so far we have been able to walk a different stretch of the coastline finishing at Newport, as we now have to venture further south, we would love to find a finishing post that offers the same comforts as Cocoa bar. Can anyone help?
Palm Beach to Newport
Our first training walk this morning kicked off at 7am on a gorgeous Sydney spring day. Kaye Khan-Panni and I met Michelle and Peter at the Coastrek official start point at the top of Palm Beach and the four of us set off on our first of many, early morning walks to get in training for our coastal walk challenge in 2011.
The first challenge was the rock pool steps – 225 as counted by Kaye who led the pack! Not much chatting went on as we huffed and puffed up to the top but after that we covered topics such as cloud computing, the young Australian of the year, old surfers, board shaping, whale spotting, ios4, Kindles, iPads and so much more.
Whale Beach looked as gorgeous as ever then passing through Avalon Beach we heard the beginnings of the surf festival as they were setting up the marquees. Bilgola was sparkling then through the final bush track emerged Newport full of surfers (well if you call 10 or so full!!) all vying for the next wave.
Michelle almost broke into a jog as our destination, Cocobar, loomed in the distance. What a pleasing sight that was and we all settled into our usual spot on the back verandah with lashing of coffees, banana bread and brioche.
