The Flippening: The City and the Bush

The northern expanse of Sydney is noted for its steep, hilly terrain, and extensive wilderness. As on the Central Coast and indeed the Illawarra to the south, the rugged topography impeded the region's development, but thankfully preserved its natural environment. Consequently, protected, interlocking conservation zones abound, among them the Ku-ring-gai Chase, Berowra Valley, Garigal and Marramurra National Parks as well as Muogamarra Nature Reserve. They are sliced by freshwater streams, and studded with Aboriginal carvings (if you know where to find them). Black cockatoos screech across the canyons with their mournful, wailing cries, while bush turkeys scratch around the undergrowth. In winter, fog crawls out of deep gullies and cloaks the genteel settlements on the ranges.

Occupying much of that is known as the upper North Shore, the Hornsby Plateau is part of a larger geographical feature, the Sydney Basin, and it includes any number of gorges (for example, the nearby Galston Gorge). The deeply incised landscape creates microclimates, with exposed ridges being more subject to extremes than the sheltered valley sides.

Berowra Creek, on a hot summer day (Australia, 2025)

In pre-colonial times, Berowra Creek is believed to have marked the boundary between the Dharuk and Kuring-gai tribes, and, as such, the surrounding Berowra Valley probably played an important role in ceremonies in which both groups participated. In fact, as the Guide to Elouera Bushland Natural Park reported: "‘Berowra’ is a word in the Dharuk Aboriginal language meaning ‘windy place’, ‘south-west wind’, and ‘place of many winds’. There is speculation as to what the word ‘Berowra’ really meant. Aboriginal languages did not have the sound ‘ow’ as pronounced today..."

With its leafy streets and manicured lawns, Berowra (33 ° 37' S 151 ° 09' E) today has an "old money" feel. You could imagine that many of the kids around here attend private schools, such as Riverview or Pymble Ladies' College, or Asquith Boys High. When they finish high school, they enroll at Macquarie University.

It's obvious that this district is more affluent than the adjoining Central Coast by the price of specials at the local RSL. They actually do offer a "tradies' special" here, but it costs AUS$18, and the patrons who eat it are often not real tradies. They are generally well-spoken, educated and chat about middle-class issues (certainly not the appeal of Pauline Hanson!)

Jet lining up to land at Mascot, as seen outside Club Berowra (Australia, 2025)

Berowra Waters Road leads from the Old Pacific Highway to the creek, which is even more prestigious. Degustation menus are frequently served down there, some of them prepared by Michelin-starred chefs. On the way, you transit through Berowra Heights with a shopping center, pizzeria, and a tavern. Jack Smith established a boatshed at Berowra Waters in 1898. The road was completed in 1900 and extended to Arcadia in 1902.

BEROWRA ATTRACTIONS
Berowra Waters Holidays: Various Locations. Phone: (0405) 565 256. Website: website here.

A suite of exclusive accommodation options is available along Berowra Creek, including studios, cottages, houses and apartments. Many of them have a motorized tinny, kayaks or fishing rods included in the price. You probably need a boat to get around some of these remote stretches of the river. A seaplane might come in handy too!

Club Berowra: 997 Pacific Hwy, Berowra. Phone: (02) 9456 1844. Website: website here.

I was hoping that my Mounties Group card from Wyong RSL might allow me entrance to this venue, opposite the railway station, but unfortunately it wasn't accepted at the door. I had to do a manual sign-in instead, before eventually becoming an official member later in the week. Inside the club is not at all flashy, ambient lighting is dim, and the appointments dated. One evening when I was there, the VB tank went dry, so I had to switch to their house beer. That said, the staff are friendly if a little slow. 

Entering the greater Sydney sprawl, in Nanna's Tesla (Australia, 2024)

Berowra acts as the terminus of the North Shore line, which runs via Hornsby and Chatswood to Central Station. The freeway (M1), meanwhile, blasts through dynamited Hawkesbury sandstone past Mount Colah and Asquith to a fork at Wahroonga. From there, the Pacific Highway proceeds to Sydney via Pymble and Artarmon and the airport. If you keep on the road, which now takes the name of the Cumberland Highway (A28) you will soon reach Normanhurst, 22km northwest of the central business district.

Approaching the Pacific Highway turnoff, on the M1 (Australia, 2024)

Entering Mount Colah, we are now part of the greater suburban Sydney sprawl. Blocks of flats become more frequent, obviously not as gargantuan as those in the outskirts of Tokyo or Beijing, but you can tell the population density is increasing. Living in apartments is not a typical trait of Australian culture, although it might appeal to Koreans or Chinese.

Mount Ku-ring-gai Track, marching to Berowra (Australia, 2026)

If you prefer more indigenous, oldschool forms of transportation, the Great North Road is your highway. Constructed by convicts between 1825 and 1836, it traverses over 260 kilometers on an absurdly roundabout route through thick bushland from Sydney to Newcastle. Mount Ku-ring-gai (sic) Track is but one tiny fragment of this epic route, linking Mount Kuring-gai Station (note the small difference in spelling) with Apple Tree Creek, and then Waratah Bay. The journey to Berowra Station takes 4 hours, passing by Cowan Station.

On the edge of the national park, at Mount Kuring-gai Station (Australia, 2026)

Leaving Mount Kuring-gai Station from the western exit, meanwhile, a hotspot for Aboriginal art is said to be in very close vicinity, although I didn't manage to reach it myself. Despite being just a few hundred meters north of the station, the trip seemingly entails walking treacherously along the highway into the face of oncoming traffic, and I chickened out after the first bend. Hiking the World, however, made it to this site and this is what he recorded:

"We clambered up onto the rocks and saw a mundoe – which is a spirit footprint. Then we saw a male and female figure with a boomerang. I think this represents Baiame and his wife. We explored the area trying not to step on anything and found lots of mundoes. In a drawing in Nathan Tilbury’s book 'Man made the city but god made the bush' I saw there was another wife on the other side of Baiame but was almost impossible to see in the light that I had. The mundoes seemed to lead to Baiame so they were likely his prints as the book suggested."

STAYING IN MOUNT KURING-GAI

Mount Kuring-gai Motel: 705 Pacific Highway, Mount Kuring-gai. Phone: (02) 9457 9393. Booking: book here.

The cactus logo at the entrance suggests that this facility was once a Mexican-themed roadhouse motel which is now turning Oriental. This suspicion is intensified by the Asian stone lanterns placed next to random cacti in the garden. Indeed, the owners appear to be Chinese and although they speak with Australian accents, they proudly display Chinese watercolors and pottery in the foyer.

Like Brookyln Motel where I sojourned last year, the decor in the rooms is on the dark side (possibly it is an 1980s touch, as Jimmy Ray proposed when he viewed their website). Ruby-red and dark timber, that seems to be the vibe. Unlike Brooklyn Motel, some of the paint on the walls is peeling. The view from my door of a transmission tower was hardly inspiring, too.

Hardly a stellar view, but it is what it is (Australia, 2026)

On the plus (light) side, there is a work desk right next to the window which I initially found quite convenient, before realizing that it exposed me to cars with bright beams pulling up outside in the middle of the night. That was too much intimacy, too fast. It was raining on the first evening of my planned two-week outstay and the air-con felt warm and cozy. Paradoxically, the dark and earthy tones created a warm and cozy atmosphere. On subsequent, non-rainy nights, the din from the highway overpowered the white noise of the air-con, and triggered my anxiety. In fact, there was a lot of noise, not just from the highway (B83), but the freeway (M1) too, as well as the railway tracks.

Dark and earthy tones, inside the Mount Kuring-gai Motel (Australia, 2026)

As always, it takes time to adapt to a new home away from home, and I did adapt to the decor, somewhat. Unfortunately, the chronic, incessant traffic noise defeated me. I could deal with it in the daylight hours, but not at midnight, when I was trying to sleep... and those Flare ear plugs only filter out so much. It is also possible that the dark walls were making the room feel more claustrophobic. I never considered claustrophobia as a potential panic trigger before, but there you go. The walls were closing on me. And so it was, with great reluctance, that five days before I was due to check out, I pulled the plug.

Feeling a bit haggard and ragged, on my final night at Mount Kuring-gai Motel (Australia, 2026)

For those undeterred by my obviously "anxious" review and are willing to give the motel a shot, the owners operate a garden restaurant kitchen cooking generic but supposedly excellent Chinese meals, to be delivered to rooms (between 6pm and 7.30pm). Apart from this kitchen, there are evidently no other dining options in the entire suburb. Mount Colah down the highway at least has a McDonald's and a Liquorland barn, and there is another Liquorland and KFC further on, in Asquith. Asquith is home to my psychiatrist Suresh Goripati, and also a prestigious golf course, on Lord Street.

ASQUITH ATTRACTIONS

Asquith Golf Course: 2-46 Lord Street, Mount Colah. Phone: (02) 9477 1266. Website: website here.

One of the best-known golf courses on the North Shore, with a buffet bistro and live bands. Belmont Parade swings by close to the fairways on its way to Bobbin Head, passing the Kalkari Discovery Centre with its kangaroos and wildlife. Bobbin Head also boasts a marina and picnic ground.

South of Asquith Station, there is no doubt that we are in a major city. Almost every piece of land is developed or being developed, and there is no shortage of cafes or somewhere to eat. Peats Ferry Road branches off to the west while the highway continues straight. If you stick to the Pacific Highway (now called Jersey Street North), you will quickly come upon the Hornsby Maintenance Area, a huge railyard housing numerous Sydney trains under repair.

A development with a troubled history: Asquith Rise, near Asquith Station (Australia, 2026)

One train stop south of Asquith is Hornsby Station, accommodating 20,000 passengers per day. Disembarking from the Peats Ferry Road exit, it appears that every second shop or restaurant is Chinese. Meanwhile, every third business is Korean or Vietnamese. There are also a few Nepali restaurants on this road, and an erotic massage parlor or two. Supermarkets sell exotic products like prunella vulgaris and star anise.

Tonyon Chinese supermarket, on Peats Ferry Road, in Hornsby (Australia, 2026)

HORNSBY RESTAURANTS

Cafe Talk: 282 Peats Ferry Road, Hornsby. Phone: (02) 8924 1545. Website: website here.

This is just one of several Nepali restaurants in Hornsby, and can be found on Peats Ferry Road near the station. During my stay at the aforementioned Mount Kuring-gai Motel, I planned to try their Buff Momo, delectable Tibetan style dumplings stuffed with buffalo meat, but unfortunately the venue was closed when I arrived there. I should have checked their website to learn that it opens daily at noon. Nonetheless, next time I am in town I will definitely dine here and along with the dumplings I might explore their other delights, such as a goat kebab style dish known as sekuwa, deep-fried potatoes, thukpa (noodle soup), keema noodles, savory lentil fritters, and even exotic looking beaten rice and tripe meals from Bhutan.

Oh My Pho!: 183 Peats Ferry Road, Hornsby. Phone: (02) 8407 9260. Home Deliveries: deliveries here.

As I was too early for Cafe Talk during my previous visit, I opted to lunch at this large, classic Vietnamese joint on the opposite side of the road. The menu on the table was book-length, which is often a bad sign when it comes to food quality, but my bowl of udon noodles with pork and blood sausage was banging enough, if just a little bland. I was so thrilled to be eating authentic Asian food again, in an authentic Asian environment. Who knows, I might make this place my regular haunt in the future!

Back in Asia, at Oh My Pho! in Hornsby (Australia, 2026)

It is remarkable how in just 11 kilometers, from Berowra to Hornsby, you progress from primeval wilderness to buzzing urbanity. There is involved in this process a dramatic "flippening" of the classic Australian polarity of "the city and the bush". As Hiking the World claimed earlier in this piece, man built the city while nature designed the bush, and for the past 14 years I have been confined to the peripheral backwaters of society, longing for some diversity. It took 14 years, but now I have finally escaped the Central Coast, and Sydney is within reach... in fact it is already conquered!

The real flippening, to be sure, is not the geographical passage from the bush to the city, but rather the cultural transition from scarcity to abundance, the provincial to the metropolitan, the monoculture to multiculturalism. The colonial to the post-colonial: meat pies to phở, McDonald's to O'Bombay. The quarter-acre block to luxury units in the sky. I can spend an afternoon in Bangkok at Doodee King near the Buddhist water pendulum clock in the mall, or follow a virtual Silk Road of cold and spicy noodles at Xi Bay. I could explore the world in miniature, an even more complete miniature world than that encapsulated by Singapore. After the sun goes down, I can resume my Asian dating odyssey at the likes of Hornsby 142. 

It's been altogether too long!