Pymble

Pymble is a delightful, bush-clad suburb on Sydney"s upper North Shore, about 17km from the city centre. It's an elegant and tranquil place of upmarket homes surrounded by wide hectares of parks and reserves.

The jewel in the verdant crown is the huge Ku-ring-gai Chase National Park. A drive east on Bobbin Head Road takes you to the park entrance and onwards to recreational and picnicking spots such as Bobbin Head and Apple Tree Bay.

You can hire a boat for a leisurely row on the river, do a bit of fishing, and visit the Kaljari Wildlife Centre and Koala Reserve. The park was declared in 1894 when 13,500ha were initially set aside, including much of the southern shores of the Hawkesbury and Cowan Creek.

A few pockets of land on the shore of Pittwater were left in private hands, most notably West Head which had been used by whalers and sailors as a burial site in the very early days of the colony. West Head was finally handed over in 1951.