Daily Detours to Help You Get Out and About

Come lunch — or straight after work — get away from your sitting habit with a run around the Sydney Opera House and Mrs Macquarie’s Chair. This is, quite possibly, one of the most scenic city running routes on the planet. To conquer the entire thing, start under the Harbour Bridge (on the southern side), pass along Circular Quay, dash across the Opera House forecourt and spring into the Royal Botanic Gardens to follow the foreshore to Mrs Macquarie’s Chair. This isn’t a chair, exactly, but a bench carved from sandstone — the handiwork of convicts in 1810 — to provide Governor Lachlan Macquarie’s wife, Elizabeth, with an outdoor seat overlooking the water.

Image: @alamogordo333 via Instagram.

Sometimes, getting out and doing something is really just an opportunity to get out and do nothing, and that’s perfectly fine.  For those trapped in loveless leases that don’t allow even the tiniest (and cutest) of puppies, doing nothing can very easily involve checking out other people’s doggos in a park. Kick off the afternoon with some mates and a trip to Mary’s for a takeaway classic cheeseburger and fries, then take your stash over to Camperdown Memorial Rest Park to get serious about some dog spotting. We’ve even heard tales of owners letting you pat their dogs if you say nice things to them beforehand.

Image: Kimberley Low.

Instead of rushing straight home after work, take a trip to St Marys, where you can watch the sun set high up in the clouds. Skypeak Aerial Park, which opened in mid-2016, features 80 challenges on its menu of adventures, including scaling an ancient red river gum, free falling 15 metres and riding a trapeze at a height of 22 metres. Prepare to test your balance and tackle any fear of heights you may have. And if you’re just not an adrenaline junkie, there’s something for you too. Settle for a stroll along a sturdy, elevated walkway with excellent views of everyone else in action. Skypeak is open from 9am-7pm and you can buy a pass to suit your scaredy-cat level.

There are two ingredients that all quintessential Sydney lunches share: water and sunshine. Kick into the weekend with them both at Chiosco by Ormeggio at The Spit’s d’Albora Marina. Opened in early 2015, it’s the casual, younger sibling of the two-hatted Ormeggio, which is just next door. Surrounded by sweeping harbour views, relax over share plates, house-made pasta and bombolone (Nutella-filled, sugar-coated Italian doughnuts). Feel free to indulge to button-popping levels, because next up is a long, dreamy, harbourside stroll: the classic Spit to Manly walk. The ten-kilometre trail carries you through dense bushland and past pretty little beaches and bays. Don’t forget your swimmers.

Make sure you get your proper Sunday morning sleep in because today you’ll be dominating one, or many of the 13 bouldering courses at Nomad, a new bouldering gym that’s popped up in Annandale. Home to the largest bouldering arch in the Southern Hemisphere, Nomad has 980 square metres of wall surface for you to climb all over. The somewhat terrifying difference between bouldering and normal rock climbing is that you’ll be doing this activity without a harness. After you’ve finished working up a sweat, wind down with an arvo session at Wayward Brewing just around the corner. Check out who may be dishing out eats this weekend, cosy up on the vintage couches surrounded by friendly people and enjoy some Sunday live music from 4pm to 7pm.

Start your Saturday early for a change and go for delicious breakfast ramen at Rising Sun Workshop (it’s made with buttered toast broth, bacon, egg and tomato). While you’re at it you can grab a Single Origin coffee, and if need be, get your motorbike adjusted (they offer that service). Once you’re fed and your bike is fixed, join Culture Scouts for a street art tour of the Inner West. Pop on your comfy shoes and prepare to see parts of the city you’ve never seen before. You’ll be surprised at how many artists have been busy bee-ing in laneways about the place. There are works by Beastman, JUMBOist, Bafcat, Skulk, Phibs, Numskull, Nico and David Cragg among others. Your journey finishes with local beers, cocktails, wine and nibbles.

To make a proper weekend escape from the city, head to Lady Carrington Drive in the world’s first national park after Yosemite in the USA. The Royal National Park south of Sydney has 10km of track starting at Audley in the north, following the Hacking River upstream, and ending at Sir Bertram Stevens Drive in the south. In the late 19th century the track functioned as a carriage route, but these days it’s only open to walkers and cyclists. As you make your way through the Nasho, keep a look out for some pure Australiana in the form of lyrebirds, lace monitors, echidnas and sugar gliders. Post bike ride, make sure you leave time for a picnic at one of three dedicated areas, and stop at Palona Brook for an extra detour to explore one of the nearby caves.

Image: NSW National Parks & Wildlife Services.

Personalise your next adventure via The Playmaker, driven by Mazda3.