An Okay Misstep: Manly Vale & Allambie Heights

Since you've all been so good, here's another two-for-one special in this non-beachy-bit-of-the-northern-beaches.

Manly Vale

A few days ago, I left you on a bush trail in North Balgowlah. That trail leads into Manly Vale.   

Here, I actually took a secondary path off of the main trail down some steps, 

and into a car park,

where I'd find Manly Vale's main attraction. 

This is Manly Dam. 

It's a pretty big body of water sitting by a pretty nice reserve. 

Surprisingly, you can swim in it. 

Less surprisingly, you can meet some of the locals, including these guys,

and this guy. 

To get to the dam-my bit, I took a short walk past this picturesque war memorial,

to rejoin the path onto the dam. 

As a structure, it's fairly interesting, in an industrial-chic sort of way. 

And the views from the thing are pretty great too. 

I dig it. 

I crossed the dam all the way and entered some bushland on the other side, which turned out to be a different suburb. My plan today was originally to explore more of Manly Vale than just this, but having accidentally started a new suburb, I figured Manly Dam was enough to check this suburb off my list and so I went along with the flow.

Manly Vale: It counts, but only by a dam margin.

Allambie Heights

So the bushland on the other side of Manly Vale turned out to be part of Allambie Heights, my unintended suburb for the day. 

It was a bit of a squelchy walk,

but a very pleasant one nevertheless, 

with wildflowers, 

shrubs and rocks, 

and a generally serene environment. 

Which all turned out to be just a few steps behind people's houses. 

The fact that the whole "untouched nature" thing turned out just to be a facade didn't do much to spoil the experience. I'm always a fan of bushwalks being accessible to suburbia - you don't need to go on a day trip out of Sydney to enjoy a bite of nature. 

But I soon found myself in suburbia. 

So what's the go with Allambie Heights? Big houses, big land seems to be the style. 

Not unlike the bushland I got here from, this also seems to be a pretty green suburb, with wide space, trees all around, 

and the go-to suburban water feature. 

From here, I was in a bit of a valley, which meant I needed to head up hill. 

This took me past boats,

and more big houses,

with plenty of the same greenery I'd run into so far. 

This eventually led to the "heights" bit of Allambie Heights, 

meaning a few vistas here and there,

as well as a curly road,

which, like it's straighter cousins, also boasts large houses. 

At the bottom of the curly road,

I found myself at one of those terrible intersections that aren't designed with the possibility that a human might wish to walk across it. 

Even the street markings told me of my inefficient crossing fate. 

Eventually, I was able cross the intersection enough times to make it into my next suburb. 

Allambie Heights: A happy little accident leading to green pocket of suburbia.