Saturday 2 January 2016

Parsley Beach, Sydney

The venue for our Christmas Day on the beach. It's in a residential area and by the time we arrived at 10am on Christmas Day the car park was full but it was easy to find free parking in the surrounding streets.
As you enter from the car park, take note to look behind you as that's the toilet block. 
At the entrance there is a playground with swings, climbing frame, sea-saw boat etc. Well equipped for a small play area. Lots of benches if you want to sit in the shade to watch the kids. 
There is a cafe with outdoor tables and several picnic benches between the car park and the sandy beach. 
Then a long stretch of grass. Long enough for someone to erect a volley ball net and several games of cricket and frisbee to take place without impacting on each other and still have enough room for the large clusters of deck chairs, tables and blankets assembled on our Christmas Day visit. 

The sand is a semi-circle shape, divided from the grass area by a brick wall. Covered in a lot of leaves from the overhanging trees and a few shells. There is a large (fake) crab on the beach to play on.
Over the water is a long, high, pedestrian bridge providing good views across the beach and out across the bay.
There is a shark net which makes it a popular swimming and snorkeling choice. There are metal ladders leading into the sea from the rocks and beside the edge of the shark net.
Unfortunately on the day we visited the water was very murky. So much so you couldn't see your feet in the water. It wasn't very pleasant to swim in although it didn't stop us. We swam up to the nets and climbed out over the rocks and were rewarded by lovely warm rock pools to soak our feet in. My son was further rewarded by the sight of dead fish on the rocks which he insisted on throwing over the net to the fishermen patiently waiting for something a bit more lively to catch. There is an information signs displaying the vegetation you may spot. I was lucky enough to have a water dragon cross my path. When you need a stretch its a nice stroll along the rocks and over the footbridge. 

Summary: A good family beach. Shame about the quality of water. 
Facilities: Car park; toilets; beach shower; cafe; picnic benches and benches; playground; trees for shade; rocks; walking path; small sandy beach; swimming; shark net; fishing. 
No dogs on the beach but from the bridge they can walk around the rocks. 












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