So today’s Sydney Sunday Public Transport Adventure (SSPTA) was an unplanned short hop up to the Central Coast to Woy Woy, followed by a bus to Ettalong Beach then a ferry across to Palm Beach and then a bus into the city……
Obviously like most of my weekend unplanned adventures this one wasn’t without it’s chaos.
The train trip to Woy Woy was easy and with an all stops to Woy Woy train there were a lot of people out adventuring. The bus from Woy Woy was easy enough too. Although I stopped in Umina to get some McDonald’s as the ferry wasn’t scheduled for nearly 2 hours. It was a lucky stop as I run into an old work friend who I haven’t seen for a while.
I decided to walk from Umina to Ettalong as it was a nice sunny day and it was only 3km.
On arrival I sat in the sun and waited a while for the ferry to come in before one of the locals come up and asked me if I was waiting for the ferry. As it turns out the ferry hasn’t been running between Ettalong and Palm Beach for some time due to sand banks building up in the harbour. The government is busy dredging out the sand but until then the ferry service has moved to Patonga. With that being not remotely easy to get to by foot or bus I opted to bus it back to Woy Woy and get the train back to Hornsby. Maybe later in the year when the dredging is completed I will be able to try again.
Here’s some photos…
As a foot note I will tell you about Wondabyne Train Station. This station is a very very short platform located on the Hawkesbury River between Hawkesbury Station and Woy Woy Station. It is serviced only by boat and has no road access. In fact to stop here you need to let the guard know when you’re getting on the train and to get off you need to be right at the back of the train, it’s only one carriage long. The station is fully operational (without staff) and has an Opal reader to tap on/off and a small waiting area under cover.
I managed to take a snap of the platform as we zoomed past (no one was stopping here today). One day I’d be curious to stop here just to watch the trains go past until another stops to take me away again. You can read more about the station here.
Wondabyne Station
If you like my adventure, have a suggestion for another Sydney Sunday Adventure or just want to say something please leave a comment below.
Thanks for reading.