beaches disability trike tour – Alex + Nick 10.01.26

Nick has been doing rides with us for at least 10 years. He has cerebral palsy and to listen to him “yahooing” all the way, is the best! The rider and his support worker joined in. Usually he comes to the city but this time we went to him on the northern beaches, and organised the beaches disability trike tour.

Beacon Hill

We picked Nick and Alex up from the suburb of Beacon Hill. It was given the name when the Department of Lands built a trigonometric beacon there in 1881. Little is known of local aboriginal culture in the Beacon Hill area but other local areas towards the sea have a rich and diverse aboriginal background. There are some aboriginal carvings in rocks to the north of Red Hill.

Daniel Egan, a member of the NSW Parliament, purchased two 40-acre (16 ha) parcels of land on 5 October 1857. Most of the houses in the suburb were built in the boom days after World War II, in the 1950s and 1960s.

Dee Why

Firstly, they rode to Dee Why which is a very popular beach, it has been done up over the last decade. A park for concerts, a playground and restaurants across the road make it very popular with locals. It also has lovely clean sand and good waves. It is 18km NW of Sydney CBD. The reasons for Dee Why’s name remain unclear. The earliest reference to it is a pencil note in surveyor James Meehan’s field book, “Wednesday, 27th Sept, 1815 Dy Beach – Marked a Honey Suckle Tree near the Beach”. What it meant to him is not clear.

Curl Curl

Then, they rode south past Curl Curl Beach. This is one of our favourite beaches in Sydney! The name Curl Curl may have been derived from a Dharuk Aboriginal phrase curial curial, meaning river of life. It’s such a lovely beach to ride past as it’s easily seen from the road. It was first settled by Europeans in 1858.

Freshwater

Freshwater has a very interesting history. This is a very small part of the history:

In December 1914, Duke Kahanamoku, the world sprint swimming champion, was touring Australia. He selected timber from a Sydney firm to fashion a board modelled on those used in his native Hawaii. He gave a demonstration to the press of surf board riding at Freshwater Beach. It was the second recorded time that anyone had surfed the clean waves beyond the break in Australian waters using this Hawaiian-style surfing technique. The first known surf board rider was Manly local Tommy Walker who rode a board at the 1912 Freshwater surf carnival. (wikipedia)

Manly

Next, they rode past the main beach of Manly. Manly has several claims to fame; it was the birthplace of surfing in Australia, the first place to legalise all-day bathing in 1903 and one of the world’s first Surf Life Saving clubs. Manly Beach was the location for the first World Surfing Championships held in 1964. Already, beaches disability trike tour, has shown our passengers some beautiful beaches.

Seaforth

They headed to Seaforth lookout which faces towards the Spit. Seaforth was named after Loch Seaforth and Seaforth Island in Scotland. The land in this area was once owned by Henry Halloran, who subdivided it in 1906. The Seaforth library was built in 1887 and protected by heritage listing by Manly Council in 1995.

The Spit

Then, it was through Spit, which is a suburb in its own right. It protrudes off Beauty Point and is home to the Spit Bridge, a bascule bridge opened in 1958 over Middle Harbour. The bridge opens at set times to allow yachts with high masts to pass. Crossing the Spit Bridge is fun, it has great views of Middle Harbour.

Balmoral Beach

Riding on, they rode past the lovely posh Balmoral Beach. Everyone who comes here loves it! Balmoral Beach is not so well known by visitors and tourists, but the stunning natural beauty of the beach and surrounds make it well worth a visit. The Beach Beauty trike ride was showing our passenger some beautiful and unique places and views!

Balmoral Burn

Amazingly, the Balmoral Burn is the next experience. Phil Kearns AM, came up with the idea of running up Mosman’s Awaba St as a way to raise funds. It was to say thank you to the Royal North Shore Hospital (RNSH) after one of his sons received emergency care, for suspected meningococcal. It started 22 years ago and is now called The Balmoral Burn.

At its steepest the gradient is nearly 30%, and over its length it rises about 70 metres (230 ft). So far, $33.7 million has been raised! Wow! Then they headed north, back over the Spit Bridge.

Wakehurst Parkway

This brought them to the Wakehurst Parkway. We love the Wakehurst Parkway because the legal speed is faster than most Sydney limits. Also, it is a haunted road!! Not that we have seen any ghosts during the day.

However, the 1.5 hrs was up, so the passenger dropped them back at Nick’s home. In conclusion, the beaches disability trike tour was another fun experience for Nick.

Feel the Freedom!

Check out the basics of the tour here.

or just email trevor@trolltours.com.au and tell us what you would like to do.