The North Head of Sydney Harbour is a place steeped in history, and few people know that history as well as celebrated novelist, playwright and local legend Tom Keneally.
Tom has made Manly and its environs his home for decades and heads to the headland daily to walk, think and exercise.
One favourite spot is Third Quarantine Cemetery tucked away in the North Head Sanctuary. The cemetery hosts almost 300 souls who lost their lives to diseases like bubonic plague, typhoid and Spanish Influenza, and Tom knows the stories of many of them.
Then there’s the impressive lookouts on the ocean side of the headland, which contain thousands of years of Aboriginal settlement, some older than the cliffs themselves.
And when he gets hungry, Tom likes to pop in to the Bella Vista Café, a Northern Italian eatery with spectacular food and even more spectacular views.
Come walk, talk and eat in the footsteps of Tom Keneally at North Head. You might even run into the man himself.
FOR MORE INFO
North Head Sanctuary
harbourtrust.gov.au/our-places/north-head-sanctuary
Third Quarantine Cemetery
harbourtrust.gov.au/ /third-quarantine-cemetery
Sydney Harbour National Park – North Head
nationalparks.nsw.gov.au/things-to-do/lookouts/north-head
Bella Vista Café Manly
@bellavistamanly
bellavistamanly.com.au/#northheadmanly
