Does What It Says on the Tin: Northbridge

It's time to round out my North Shore adventures for now.

Northbridge

If you've been following along, you'll know that Northbridge starts as you cross the bridge north from Cammeray.

And it definitely is a hell of a bridge.

If you poke your head (and camera) through the suicide fences, you even get a peek of the thick bush below.

This suburb has among the most matter-of-fact place names of all. Here's what the conversation must've gone like back in 1912 when this bridge was constructed.

We built a bridge.

Yeah?

It's up north.

Yeah? 

We're making a new suburb there.

Yeah?

It's called Northbridge.

Noice. 

My goal for today is to investigate if Northbridge is just a one-trick-pony or if there's more to it than just that. To determine that, I thought the best course of action was to set my final destination to Clive Park - a coastal park sitting on the northeastern-most tip of the suburb and peninsula.

Still a great bridge though.

Immediately beyond the bridge is this war memorial clock tower. In isolation it is rather nice but sadly it can't not be dwarfed by the bridge.

Once I was safely within the suburb's bounds, I took a right turn eastbound to find out what else the suburb has to offer.

Even more so than its neighbours, Northbridge is very green, with dense foliage almost swallowing the roads and houses.

My route took me up Murray Ln (aka these steps) which have been lifted straight out of a bushwalk.

You even get a nice little view back to the bridge to reward you for your climb,

but presumably this house up the top of the stairs gets a better view than I did.

The North Shore "bushwalking" continued, taking me a route which hugs the cliff behind people's houses.

Naturally, up here the beautiful views of the surrounding suburbs continue. The North Shore sure is green.

Bonus wildlife.

Eventually, my bushwalk ended and I was ejected back into suburbia.

This part of Northbridge appears to have wealth, but not in an in-your-face sort of way. The houses are big and well-kept, but not flashy, and I didn't even see a single one of those Porche 4WDs.

Even the grass on the footpath is manicured.

This residential street exits onto Sailors Bay Road (the closest thing to a main road so far). I continued on, turning right to continue my easterly march towards the coast.

There are a few small stores dotted along the road here, but nothing too exciting,

apart from this historic bottle shop.

Also on this road is a massive oval with views of North Sydney,

and a golf club which has pleasingly opened up some of its grounds for public walking access.

Because I was sick of being back in the city, as I continued along the footpath decided to turn back into a hiking trail.

I decided to turn off the main road and explore a little bit more of the residential streets. Little did I know that the deeper you get into Northbridge, the weirder and whackier the houses get.

Is there something in the water here?

Special props goes to this guy's homage to the unofficial official bird of Sydney.

I also tried taking a detour to something called The Monkey Rocks.

It was this guy's Google Review that sealed the deal for me to give it a try.

To get there I had to walk into The Amazon.

I wasn't keen on a spider web to the face so I decided to abandon mission. Those might be the rocks. I don't know.

Anyway, back to the main journey.

Remember when I said that Northbridge wasn't so flashy?

This bit near the tip starts to get flashy.

I finally hit the promised land - Clive Park. I was a little disconcerted when it apparently required another bush walk.

Eventually the trail gave way and revealed a picnic area with views of the sea.

I pushed on and let the path lead me downhill.

At the bottom is a beautiful little beach as well as Clive Park Pool, providing a spot for locals to wade in safely.

Reaching my goal, it was time to head back up the trail.

Luckily, there is a bus stop at the entry to the park which was able to take me all the way back into the city.

Northbridge: I like the bridge.