The Sydney 7hour trike tour was organised by some Aussies for themselves and friends visiting from the UK. The friends were in Sydney for a short time so wanted to see as much as possible as well as spend time together. We added a variation of the 𝙀𝙖𝙨𝙩𝙚𝙧𝙣 𝙋𝙖𝙣𝙤𝙧𝙖𝙢𝙖 and the 𝙎𝙤𝙪𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙧𝙣 𝙎𝙥𝙚𝙘𝙩𝙖𝙘𝙪𝙡𝙖𝙧 tours together. We picked the passengers up from a prearranged pick up point. They had driven in from western Sydney.
Sydney Harbour Bridge
Firstly, they rode over the Sydney Harbour Bridge. We always tell our passengers to look up and enjoy the unique view. The more than 6,000,000 rivets are so interesting and the arch is so iconic. It’s nicknamed ‘The Coathanger’ because of its arch-based design. It is the largest steel arch bridge in the world. This bridge is the eighth longest spanning-arch bridge in the world and the tallest steel arch bridge, measuring 134 m (440 ft) from top to water level. It was also the world’s widest long-span bridge, at 48.8 m (160 ft) wide, until a bridge in Canada was completed in 2012.
Kirribilli
To the east, the rider took them through the back streets and into Kirribilli, to the Prime Minister‘s residence and Admiralty House. Kirribilli House is the secondary official residence of the Prime Minister of Australia.
Next door is Admiralty House. It is the Sydney residence of the Governor-General and one of the most historic and important residences on Sydney Harbour. The house – originally called ‘Wotonga’ – was built in the mid 1800’s.
After that, they rode around the corner to Jeffrey Street Wharf. From here, the views across Sydney Harbour towards the Sydney Opera House and the CBD are magnificent. In addition, it also has an up-close view of the side and underneath of the bridge. What a great view of the Sydney Opera House and Harbour Bridge! It’s where the photo was taken.
The Kirribilli Loop – Harbour Bridge north side
From there, they rode under the north side of the bridge and continued on their tour. The underside of the northern end of the SHB – Sydney Harbour Bridge – is very interesting. The Kirribilli Loop was finished by riding past Luna Park and the North Sydney Olympic Pool.
McMahons Point / Blues Point Reserve
Thirdly, they rode on through Milsons Point, did a left hand turn and rode up a few streets. This leads to Blues Point Reserve. The views over Blues Bay towards the Sydney Opera House, the Harbour Bridge and the CBD are just stunning. Already, the Sydney 7hour trike tour, has shown our passengers some major Sydney city sights.
Then it was back over the SHB.
Circular Quay
Often referred to as the “gateway to Sydney”, the Circular Quay precinct has views of the Sydney Harbour Bridge and the Sydney Opera House and is a common location for viewing Sydney New Year’s Eve fireworks. It hosts a number of ferry wharves, bus stops, and a railway station.
Opera House
Then, they rode past the iconic Sydney Opera House. We can’t ride close but you can see it from a different angle to the usual. The Sydney Opera House is a multi-venue performing arts centre. Designed by Danish architect Jørn Utzon, but completed by an Australian architectural team headed by Peter Hall, the building was formally opened by Queen Elizabeth II on 20 October 1973.
Macquarie Street
Up onto Macquarie St. This street, is the location of the main governmental institutions of NSW: Parliament House, Government House, and the Law Courts Building (which houses the Supreme Court of New South Wales). There is so much history behind Macquarie St. and the buildings that front it.
In the years since its founding in 1788, Sydney had developed organically, and by the early 1800s was lacking in major public buildings, and had a complex network of narrow streets. The supply of drinking water and waste management was also becoming an issue. Governor Macquarie initiated the construction of Sydney’s first public buildings of any real permanence and set the boundaries of Sydney’s grid of streets, laying out the street in 1810.
St Mary’s Cathedral
They rode along William St and past St Mary’s Cathedral which is very impressive, even when riding past. It’s a Gothic Revival architectural building which opened in 1928. It took from 1866 to 1928 to build and has a height of 75m.
Mrs Macquaries Chair / Point
This leads to Mrs Macquaries Point. This peninsula was named in 1810 after Elizabeth, Governor Macquarie’s wife, who ordered a seat to be chiselled into the rock from which she could view the harbour. Mrs Macquaries Chair, as it’s known, is still there today. It’s in the Domain but is effectively an extension of the Botanic Gardens. They had a quick stop here to check it out and take photos.
Woolloomooloo, Harry’s and Garden Island
Then, they rode into the inner eastern suburb of Woolloomoolloo. It has the famous Harry Cafe De Wheels. Harry’s Café de Wheels has been serving customers for over 80 years. They make delicious pies, hotdogs and more. Lots of interesting photos are on the walls, mostly of famous celebrities who have visited over the years.
Also there is Garden Island. Garden Island is the location of a major Royal Australian Navy (RAN) base.
Kings Cross
Riding through the infamous Kings Cross is always interesting. It has calmed down a lot since it’s heyday – it’s home to the famous and huge Coca Cola sign. Kings Cross is also home to nightclubs and ladies of the night though it is not nearly as raunchy as it was in the 1970s (apparently). Already, the Sydney 7hour trike tour was fun and interesting!
Coca-Cola billboard
Heading further east, look up to see the famous “Coke Sign”. It is an advertising billboard erected in 1974 by the Coca-Cola Company. More often regarded as an iconic landmark than as an advertisement. The new Coca-Cola sign was officially turned on, on 15 September 2016, and uses a lot less power. It is the single largest controllable LED sign in the Southern Hemisphere and can change colour.
Rushcutters Bay
Further east is Rushcutters Bay. After British settlement, the area was first known as ‘Rush Cutting Bay’ because the swampy land was covered in tall rushes used by early settlers for thatching houses. In 1878, 2 hectares (6 acres) were reserved for recreation; and, after reclamation work was completed, Rushcutters Bay Park was created.
Double Bay
Continuing on, they rode through Double Bay. Also known as “double pay”, Double Bay takes its name from the bay of Sydney Harbour and refers to the two geographical formations between Point Piper and Darling Point, which are interrupted by a miniature point in between. Already, the UK family Harley trike tour has shown some beautiful areas of Sydney.
Rose Bay
Further, they rode eastthrough Rose Bay. It is a harbourside eastern suburb of Sydney, located seven km east of the CBD.
The name Rose Bay was used as early as 1788 by Captain John Hunter. HMAS Tingira, named after an Aboriginal word for ‘open sea’ was moored in Rose Bay from 1912 to 1927. It was used to train over 3,000 Australian sailors, many for service in World War I. There is a small park on the Rose Bay waterfront which commemorates Tingira.
Bondi Beach
At last, they came to the world famous Bondi Beach. This is the beach where Bondi Lifeguards of the Bondi Rescue TV series is filmed. When in Sydney it is one of the places you should visit. The beach is seriously nice (but not our favourite) but it’s good to say you have seen it. Bondi Beach is one of the most visited tourist sites in Australia. Bondi Beach is recorded by the Australian Museum that Bondi means place where a fight using boondi sticks (nullas nullas or fighting sticks) took place. They did stop here to check the beach out and take photos.
Tamarama
Riding south, along more beautiful, though possibly less well known, beaches. The suburb of Tamarama has a small ocean beach about 1 kilometre south of Bondi Beach and a couple of hundred metres north of Bronte Beach. It is an extremely narrow beach and deceptive for its size. Tamarama Beach is often referred to as Glamarama (or Glamourama), owing to the alleged abundance of glamorous people who sunbathe (often topless), on what must be one of the smallest strips of sand in the state (Wikipedia).
Bronte
Next, they rode even further south to Bronte Beach. Bronte Beach sits on Nelson Bay, surrounded by Bronte Park. Bronte offers scenic cliff-top walking paths south to Coogee via the Waverley Cemetery and north to Tamarama and Bondi Beach. So far, the Sydney 7hour trike tour has been fun, informative and memorable.
Bronte-Coogee Aquatic Reserve
Then, it was even more south to the Bronte-Coogee Aquatic Reserve. This extends from the southern end of Bronte Beach to the rock baths at Coogee Beach and out to 100 m offshore. It covers an area of approximately 40 hectares and includes 4,000m of coastline.
The objectives of the aquatic reserve is:
1. conserve the biodiversity of fish and marine vegetation
2. protect fish habitat
3. facilitate educational activities
4. facilitate scientific research
Clovelly Beach
This a small and tranquil beach, located the mouth of a narrow bay between two rocky ridges.
Maroubra
Next, Maroubra is one of Australia’s top surfing beaches. It is a local Aboriginal word meaning place of thunder. In 2006, Maroubra Beach became the second Australian beach to be named an official National Surfing Reserve. The spectacular 1km long beach is wrapped by a rocky headland and natural bushland.
Little Bay
Even further south, the little known Little Bay area was first used as a sanitation camp during Sydney’s smallpox outbreak in 1881–82, to isolate the healthy contacts of sufferers of the disease. Also, bubonic plague in Sydney of 1900 and then again when soldiers returning from Europe brought the influenza virus back in 1919. Little Bay was an ideal location because it was isolated from settlements but still close enough to Sydney.
La Perouse
This beautiful peninsula in Sydney’s southeast is where Captain Arthur Phillip’s First Fleet initially landed in 1788, before deciding to settle at Sydney Cove. La Perouse is named after a French explorer who arrived in Botany Bay a week after the First Fleet. Nearby is the 1880s-built Bare Island Fort, which you might recognise from the Tom Cruise film Mission Impossible 2.
Sutherland
Then, they travelled through the Sutherland Shire. It is located at the southern border of the Sydney metropolitan area, 26km from the Sydney CBD. It is home to one of Sydney’s longest surf beaches. Moreover, Kurnell within the Sutherland Shire was the original landing place of Captain James Cook on 29th April 1770, making the Shire the birthplace of our modern nation.
The Royal National Park
After that, they rode along some other roads and through the historic Royal National Park. Established in 1879 it is Australia’s first national park and the world’s second oldest national park – after Yellowstone in the USA. It features unique heritage attractions, along with fascinating plants, birds and animals.
Interestingly, originally known as just National Park, it was renamed Royal National Park in 1955, in honour of Queen Elizabeth’s visit to Australia in 1954. It was added to the Australian National Heritage List in 2006.
As the trike rider wrote to us after the fun tour; “the weather was perfect and just magical. Riding through the Royal National Park with the temperature dips and changes as you go through the various wooded dense areas.”
Stanwell Tops
There were so many hang gliders around today, so they stopped for a coffee and stretch at Stanwell Tops. They hung around longer than usual because it was so interesting to watch. They stopped for a lunch and a stretch.
Stanwell Tops rests on the Illawarra escarpment, overlooking the Pacific Ocean and the neighbouring village of Stanwell Park. Bounded on all sides by state-forest reserves and other forested crown lands. The Sydney 7hour trike tour is showing our passengers some interesting and unique sights.
Bald Hill Lookout
Above all, parts of Stanwell Tops, Bald Hill Lookout not only has excellent views but the area is also internationally known as a major hang-gliding point. It was on the beach below Bald Hill that Lawrence Hargrave, an Australian pioneer of flight, made a successful flight with his box kite, on 12 November 1894. The memorial cairn dedicated to him has been erected at the peak of the hill near the car park.
Bald Hill overlooks the iconic Sea Cliff Bridge which is where we are heading after here.
Stanwell Park
After that, they drove down to Stanwell Park and saw the beautiful beach. Our passengers had seen some beautiful views and ridden through the lovely National Park. Something not many people experience.
Originally, the area was inhabited by the Wodiwodi Aboriginal clan of the Tharawal people. It was traversed by 3 shipwrecked sailors in an epic journey of survival along hundreds of miles of coastline until rescued at Wattamolla, north of Stanwell Park. Two of their companions were unable to negotiate the Coal Cliffs where the Sea Cliff Bridge is today, and their remains were found by explorer George Bass, who also reported on the rich coal seam apparent in the cliffs.
Coalcliff
Coalcliff is beginning of the famous Sea Cliff Bridge coming from the North. It is a suburb of northern Wollongong at the base of the Illawarra escarpment. Founded in 1797 when survivors of a wreck set out to find Sydney and found coal here, which they used to make a fire for warmth.
Explorer George Bass was then sent by Governor Hunter to investigate, and found several seams that extended for some distance.
Sea Cliff Bridge
Continuing on, we rode onto the Sea Cliff Bridge and along the coastline. The 665 metre long Sea Cliff Bridge is a highlight along the Grand Pacific Drive – an award-winning drive which takes is a 140 kilometres worth of coastal scenery from the Royal National Park – Loftus down to Nowra. What a great tour this Sydney 7hour trike tour is!
Bulli Pass
Next, they rode north up the Bulli Pass. The original Throsby track, which lies less than a kilometre to the south of today’s Bulli Pass road, was used from 1815 to 1844. In 1867, when today’s Bulli Pass was built, the maximum grade on Bulli Pass is 14.6 per cent. Wheeled vehicles began using the road in 1863.
Sublime Point Lookout
At the top is Sublime Point Lookout which offers 180 degree views over the sea, the rainforest and the 17 beaches that span the coastline to Wollongong. They stopped here to check out the amazing views.
Princes Highway
Instead of riding back on the motorway, the riders took them along the Princes Highway. It runs parallel to the motorway but is quieter and has a nicer atmosphere. However, the 7 hours was up, so they kept riding and dropped the passengers back in the Sydney CBD. In conclusion, the Sydney 7hour trike tour was a success. A memorable experience and a lot of fun. Not to mention the beautiful scenery they saw along the way. Check out their review on Google, we will put it on our website soon.
Check out the Southern Spectacular tour here!
or just email us: trevor@trolltours.com.au
