The Centennial Park is a large parkland in suburban Sydney, just a short distance from the town’s central business district. Sydneysiders love their outdoor life style, since the town itself is an urban jungle. If the weather is warm and the sky is clear, most of them are out on the beach or in the park soaking in the sun. The park reflects the ethos of the people. The park offers many out door activities. You can hire bikes, go horse riding, and even rollerblade. There are cyclists on the paths, pedaling away furiously. Of course there are people who have just come to the park to relax.

The wonderful thing about this park is that it is huge and even on the busiest of days, one can find a secluded spot where you can sit down relax and read a book or take a nap in the open air.

The park has many ponds, statues and flower beds. These make the park a very pretty place to while away a sunny clear day.

If you would like to ride, the Centennial Parklands Equestrian Centre (CPEC) can give rides around the park and also riding lessons. Its equestrian facilities are excellent and they even have an indoor arena.

Other features of this park are:

The Federation Pavilion

This is a historic feature. Australia’s independence was proclaimed from this pavilion in January 1901. The pavilion was renovated for the centenary celebrations recently

The Grand Drive

Sydneysiders are outdoor people. Every open air beach or park has a sports feature. The Grand Drive is one such feature. It circles the park and is 3.8 km in length. This is used for the Sydney Marathon race. It was also used for the races in the Sydney Olympics 2000.

McKay Oval

It was originally a swamp that was drained out and cleaned up. It is now used by Sydney Boys High School as a playground. Cricket, Rugby and Soccer is played in this ground.

Centennial Park is generally considered safe, and park rangers patrol it all the time. However, there is no protection against careless behavior so it is recommended that you take care of your own belongings and exercise caution.

It is a busy park, so getting a parking space for your car can be difficult unless you drive there early in the day. You could of course leave your car at home and go by bus.

Another special feature of this park is that once in a month, cars are prohibited. They have a “Car Free Sunday” which is a great thing.

The Centennial Park has suburbs where there are very expensive looking houses. This suburb was developed by the sale of land next to the park and the money was used to develop the park. Due to stringent building clauses, no low quality buildings were allowed. As a result the suburb has very posh looking houses and the residential area is plush.

If you thought Sydney is all about the Harbor Bridge and Opera House, then one does need to look beyond the concrete-jungle abounding with over seventy beach-fronts. In fact, if you have not treaded the sand to soak in the sun & surf, you have not really been to Sydney. Let us look at some of the sheltered coves that are so unlike the open ocean beaches, yet offer not only an ideal break for a quiet panoramic picnic, but also a huge variety of water sports.

Balmoral Beach

The scenic Balmoral Beach is all about being an ideal family which spends time together and takes the family pets for an outing, or a fun place bustling with activity. The aerial view of Balmoral Beach shows a vast expanse of sand, and a neat footbridge that leads to a tree shaded area smack in the middle. On one side is the vast expanse of the deep blue ocean including a view of gateway to Sydney Harbor, and on the other is the panoramic view of some real fabulous homes and hotels. And yes, in some homes one can spot huge and expensive yachts parked as though they were cars.

For the fun part, Balmoral Beach actually lets you create your own. There are no tourist guides here and no one to tell you what you need to do. In fact, when planning the trip don’t forget to carry your football, rollerblades, or even a bicycle. One can also hire sail-boards here, and if not familiar with their usage, then the Balmoral Boatshed has the provision for providing lessons at a nominal charge. At the beach, the urge is always to indulge in a salt-water swim for which you just hop across the wide board-walk into a net-enclosed area that actually makes it a safe haven by keeping the sharks away. This swim safely feature therefore does not necessitate beach patrolling. After the fun in the water, just walk to the rear section of the Bathers Pavilion to the ultra-clean toilets, take a quick shower and change, and one is ready for more action. If you feel you need to chill-out for a while, then head on towards the shaded park area in the northern tip and dig into your picnic basket. Once pepped, a quick walk through the streets will lead you to nearby Chinamans Beach. During low tides, one can actually walk across the rocks that separate Balmoral Beach from Chinamans Beach.

Whether early dawn, during the sunny day, or when the dusk is setting in, Balmoral Beach is bustling with people. For some it’s the view, for others it’s the swim, or the fun and picnic, and for many it’s an evening trot-over for the delicious fish and chips.

Sydneysiders actually spend more time outdoors which is not surprising considering that their beautiful city is surrounded by various beaches that are really world class.

The very name ‘Balls Head Reserve’ does invite a snide snicker, but all that fades into a shade when one actually visits the area. This is one more of the famous ‘green belt’ areas of Sydney smack in the midst of a total concrete jungle and most of them are naturally located in the proximity of the harbour foreshore, thus providing a scenic splendour.

But as compared to the other ‘reserve’ spots, there is something quite different about the Balls Head Reserve, and we do mean from not just geographical, but also a historical point of view. If you care to walk a little, do hike through some inland paths with ledges and you will get to see some fairly discernible and very ancient Aborginal rock paintings, including a few odd carvings. It’s these that make this site straight out of History, giving some insight to the original aborginal settlers of Australia, which would be way before the first white man made his landing on this continent country.

The most obvious reason that draws people here is the unparallel scenic beauty of the place. The Balls Head Reserve can actually boast of the of the spectacular waterline reserve, being practically based right near the water overlooking the Harbour Bridge. This is one place of visit where your eyes will feel feasted, and the clicks of your camera may be questioned for their authencity. The absolutely enchanting panoramic sweep cuts across North Sydney to the Darling Harbour, and then from Anzac Bridge on to the Balmain and Rozelle. In between, one just cannot miss the sprawling landmark; the lotus shaped Sydney Opera House.

The most convenient transport modes to get to the Balls Head Reserve are a car, though we would recommend a train ride to the Waverton Train Station from where it is barely a ten minute walk. For more precise directions, once outside Waverton Station, one needs to walk left towards the Bay Road and then turn right just before the Harbour.

Besides the inland paths that help stretch the legs for a real worthwhile walk, and the scenic splendour that soothes the eyes, the Balls Head Reserve is actually a beautiful picnic spot with BBQ facility. This is one reserve that deserves a day spend with family or friends. And remember, the camera is always part of your attire. After all, this is amongst the locales that project Sydney on various colored brochures.