21st birthday Harley ride – Nathan 29.04.23

Dad organised the 21st birthday Harley ride for his son Nathan. Mark rides motorcycles and wanted his son to experience a Harley ride. Our Harley rider picked Nathan up in the northern suburb of St Ives. https://www.trolltours.com.au/product/design-your-own-ride/

St Ives

A suburb on the Upper North Shore of Sydney, the St Ives area was first explored by Governor Arthur Phillip and a party of men in 1788. St Ives was initially slow to develop due to the perceived remoteness from the city. Settlement increased in the late 1890s, when St Ives was populated by market gardeners, a small dairy, orchard workers and related industries. The suburb since the end of the Second World War has seen its most rapid period of expansion and a steady growth in families moving to the area. (Wikipedia)

Belrose

Firstly, they rode NE to Belrose. Belrose Post Office opened on 4 September 1923 and closed in 1986. The name ‘Belrose’ is said to be derived from the combination of two plant names – the Christmas Bell and the bush rose, which were predominant in the area.

Forest way / Frenchs Forest

Secondly, it was past Forest Way and through Frenchs Forest (pron. frenches). Forest Way is really only a shopping centre ???? but worth riding past. It’s in the suburb of Frenchs Forest, in the Warringah shire.

Prior to the arrival of the First Fleet in Port Jackson in 1788, the area of land we now know as Frenchs Forest, and surrounding Warringah areas, was the home of the Dharug language group of the Garigal Aboriginal clan. Evidence of their habitation remains today in the form of rock engravings, rock art, open campsites, rock shelters, scarred trees and middens. The word Warringah has many interpretations including “sign of rain”, “across the waves” and “sea”.

Seaforth

Heading further south, they came to the ‘posh’ area of Seaforth. Seaforth is a suburb of Northern Sydney and is part of the Northern Beaches region. It overlooks Middle Harbour and is linked south to Mosman by the Spit Bridge. To the west, Seaforth overlooks Sugarloaf Bay. So far, the 21st birthday Harley ride was a fun experience.

Spit Bridge

We love the Spit Bridge, it’s a steel and concrete girder bridge with a bascule lift span across the Middle Harbour. Good to ride across with great views on both sides. It’s also good to see the bridge open up though that eats into tour time. It’s really quite fascinating to watch the boats (mostly tall yachts) sail through.

Mosman

Then they rode through the north shore suburbs of Mosman and Cremorne. More well-to-do suburbs ???? but the architecture of many of the buildings (off the main st – Military Road) is lovely. Simple asymmetry is a typical feature of the style, with the use of a projecting square or semi-octagonal bay abutted by a decorative cast iron verandah with concave or bullnosed corrugated iron roofs being almost universal in examples of all sizes.

Mosman has been the site of important maritime and defence installations for Sydney since 1801.

Cremorne

Cremorne was named after the Cremorne Gardens in London, a popular pleasure ground in England, which derived its name from the Old Irish words Crích Mugdornd (modern Irish: Críoch Mhúrn), meaning ‘boundary’ or ‘chieftain’ of Mugdornd.

North Sydney

The Indigenous people on the southern side of Port Jackson (Sydney Harbour) called the north side warung which meant the other side, while those on the northern side used the same name to describe the southern side.

However, the hour was almost up so Phil headed north and back to Nathan’s home in St Ives. In conclusion, the 21st birthday Harley ride was fun and achieved it’s purpose – of giving Nathan a fun experience on a Harley! Feel the Freedom!