surprise mother daughter trike tour – Alison + Keira 02.02.24

The surprise mother daughter trike tour was a surprise for Keira, the daughter. Keira did get a huge but fabulous shock! They had a great time, part of Alison’s email later, “We had a fantastic time on our tour with Fred…..”. They were staying out at Olympic Park and our trike rider picked them up from there. He took them on a fun 3 hour tour and they sure saw a lot!

Sydney Olympic Park

Interestingly, Sydney Olympic Park was originally redeveloped for the Sydney 2000 Olympic and Paralympic Games. The stadiums, arenas and venues continue to be used for sporting, musical, and cultural events, including the Sydney Royal Easter Show, Sydney Festival and a number of world-class sporting fixtures. The suburb also contains commercial developments, residential buildings and extensive parklands.

Ryde Bridge

Firstly, they rode over Ryde Bridge, 19km NW of Sydney CBD. The two bridges comprise a heritage-listed steel Pratt truss bridge with inoperable lift span. The original Ryde Bridge was opened on 7 December 1935 and spans across the famous Parramatta River.

Hunters Hill

Secondly, they rode through Hunters Hill. It’s a well-to-do suburb which has a number of heritage-listed buildings and is positioned near the confluence of the Lane Cove and Parramatta Rivers, as well as the headwaters of Sydney Harbour, which provides river and harbour views. A great area!

Fig Tree Bridge and Lane Cove

Next, it was over an old but smallish bridge – the Fig Tree Bridge. It opened in 1963 and spans the Lane Cove River.

The Lane Cove River is the largest river in the area. Into the lovely leafy suburb of Lane Cove. Lane Cove National Park is located close to the suburb. The Lane Cove Bushland Park is home to an endangered species of fungus, Hygrocybe lanecovensis, which is found nowhere else.

Blues Point Reserve

Continuing on, they rode on through North Sydney to Macmahons Point. This lead to Blues Point Reserve. The views over Blues Bay towards the Sydney Opera House, the Harbour Bridge and the CBD are just stunning. All the more stunning because of the lovely weather. A perfect place for photos.

Kirribilli

Next, they rode past Kirribilli House. Kirribilli House is the secondary official residence of the Prime Minister of Australia. 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. Yet another perfect place to stop for photos. So far, the surprise mother daughter trike tour has shown the passengers so many places the usual tourist doesn’t see. Also, some beautiful views!

The Kirribilli Loop

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.

Sydney Harbour Bridge

Then, they rode over the Sydney Harbour Bridge. We always tell our passengers to look up and enjoy the unique view. he 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.

Opera House

Firstly, they rode to the iconic Sydney Opera House. We can’t get very close but we know some good angles which give some great scenic views. Even as “forever Sydneyites” we never get tired of looking at the Opera House.

Along Macquarie Street which is famous for being home to the medical specialists. Past the gorgeous Government House which is the heritage-listed vice-regal residence of the governor of NSW.

St Mary’s Cathedral and Woolloomooloo

St Mary’s Cathedral 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. Next, they rode through the inner eastern suburb of Woolloomoolloo and past 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.

They rode past Garden Island which is the location of a major Royal Australian Navy base. Then it was up the hill and into Potts Point.

Kings Cross

Continuing on, they rode through the infamous Kings Cross, though it has calmed down a lot since it’s heyday – home of 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).

Eastern suburbs

They headed east through the posh suburbs of the eastern suburbs of Sydney, including the Bays: Rose Bay, Double Bay and Rushcutters Bay. Already, the surprise mother daughter trike tour has shown our passengers so much of the interesting areas of north west, inner north and eastern Sydney. Not to mention Sydney city itself.

Bondi Beach

Next, they rode south and past the world famous Bondi Beach to the south side. Here, there is a lovely view overlooking the whole of 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 was made extra famous by the TV series “Bondi Rescue”. 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.

The photo was taken in front of the Lifeguard Tower.

Tamarama + Bronte

Riding further 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 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.

Bronte-Coogee Aquatic Reserve

Next, it was 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.

Centennial Park

Centennial Park is a lovely experience, to ride through and to stop for a short break.

120 fields and venues, and 35+ different sports played in the Centennial Parklands. It is the largest community sports precinct in Australia! The history is also interesting: “Originally a swamp and then set aside as land for the water source for Sydney. Centennial Park was reconstructed as a public park and opened in 1888. Sir Henry Parkes’ vision was to create a ‘People’s Park’ in which the citizens of Sydney could ‘take in the air’ away from the Sydney town centre.”

Oxford Street

There was enough time to ride down the famous Oxford Street. The western section of Oxford Street, which runs through the suburb of Darlinghurst, is widely recognised as Sydney’s main gay district and Oxford Street is closed to traffic once a year in early March for the Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras.

Chinatown

Further on is Chinatown. Sydney isn’t the only global city with a Chinatown, but this one is bigger, better and boasts more than most thanks to the Chinese immigrants who started arriving in the 1800s. Dixon Street is the main street for Chinatown, with many shops and Chinese restaurants in a pedestrian-only street. In the 1980s business owners raised funds for the ceremonial Chinese archways found at the entrance.

Australian National Maritime Museum

Finally, they arrived at the Australian National Maritime Museum. Built in 1991, the Museum continues the traditions of a vibrant Sydney harbour. We are Australia’s museum of the sea. A place to explore our relationship to the oceans, rivers and lakes around us and to dive deeper into the rich maritime heritage that binds us all. Ii is situated in Darling Harbour.

Darling Harbour, close to the site of the first British settlement at Sydney Cove, soon became the cradle of the colony’s maritime commerce. There is a lot of history made through the decades. By the 1980s Darling Harbour was almost redundant as an industrial centre and transport interchange. It would soon pass through a remarkable transformation – to become a relaxed and welcoming harbour-side recreation and tourist district.

However, the 3 hours was up so our trike rider dropped the passengers off so they could explore the museum. In conclusion, the surprise mother daughter trike tour was a huge success. They both had a fun and memorable time. Feel the Freedom!

Design your own ride!