Enchanted La Perouse

Brought GF to La Perouse for a relaxing Boxing Day walk. I'm surprised that after years for living in Sydney, she hasn't visited the Botany Bay National Park before. First place we visited is the nearby Congwong Beach. The beach is pretty small, not as well-maintained, but quite safe to swim in. Since we didn't bring any beach gear with us, we didn't stay long.

We saw a sign saying Henry Head Scenic Walk, and proceeded to follow it. The sign didn't say how long the trail is, so on and on we walked. Felt a bit sorry for GF because she wasn't dressed properly for hiking (nor was I), and was slipping from time to time. We eventually reached a fork in the trail: one continuing to Henry Head (700 meters more) and another leading to Browns Rock (280m). We decided to try the latter. Halfway down the pass, we sighted this middle-aged guy stark naked. Like a frightened bunny, he jumped into the bush and run away without so much as an "excuse me". Very strange. At the end of the trail is a narrow ledge where quite a few people were fishing. Seeing that there's no other way, we doubled back to the fork, and followed the main road to the golf club and back to the parking lot.

After a quick lunch of ham sandwiches and banana on the slopes, we checked out the Macquarie Watchtower. The sandstone structure was built in the 1820s to watch for smugglers and escaping convicts. Initially used as a customs house, it later became the first school in the area. Just behind it is the La Perouse Museum and La Perouse Monument. Across the bridge is the Bare Island Fortification. It was built in 1855 to protect Sydney from Russian invasion. If it looks familiar to you, that's because it was featured in the final scenes of Mission: Impossible 2 where Tom Cruise did battle with the bad guy on bikes.

Back at the house, we had a second barbecue lunch, then off to Westfield to watch Enchanted (at GF's request). It wasn't too bad actually. The animation was standard Disney, and the songs quite catchy. As expected, the movie had a happy ending, but with a few twists. Prince Edward's kiss fails to wake up Princess Giselle after she ate the poisoned apple. Giselle slays the monstrous dragon (actually Queen Narissa). The fairy-tale princess didn't end up with her prince charming. Instead of going back to the land of Andalusia, she married Robert and started a company making princess clothing for girls. As for Prince Edward, he hooks up with Robert's fiancee Nancy, and they all lived happily ever after.