Sydney by Seaplane to Cottage Point Inn

[andye]

The fabulous Mrs andye was having a signiificant birthday and I thought that this warranted a memorable day.

The forecast for the Monday looked quite good, and I chose Sydney by Seaplane, one of the operators on Rose Bay for a flight up to the Cottage Point Inn on the Hawkesbury River.

The booking call sent me straight through to the pilot, Steve, who asked me for our weights and said he'd be able to put us on a flight with two others. I did ask for reassurance that that was the last time either our weights would be asked . I then had a folow up call for payment (no Amex) and other details from a lady in the office.

I do admit that I was disappointed not to be able to put the flight on the AFF tracker

 

[andye]

Each day the weather forecast was looking worse and worse and there was a deluge in Northern Sydney the morning of the birthday. It was scheduled to clear however and I crossed my fingers.

The various Mstr andyes (and I ) had done well with the gifts. Mstr andye2 had baked a cake and we all had a good morning before the boys went to school and uni.

I popped in to work to do my rounds. Finished quickly and came back to the first glass of champagne (Cattier from a 2 for $100 offer at Vintage Cellars during triple points weekend in Waterford glasses bought by mstr andye3&4)

 

[ellen10]

Sounds like a very nice start for Mrs andye's significant birthday. Nice work!

 

[andye]

Weather forecast was for things to clear. I confirmed this with Steve-hooray. I ordered the Uber. I opted for Premium and was upgraded to Black. Was hoping to get a very fancy limo but turned out to be a Merc V class which was comfortable without being beautiful.

The meeting point is called the Rose Bay Marina underneath the Regatta Restaurant. Mark from the marina was there to greet us and our fellow passengers arrived soon after. They were an Englishman living in Coogee celebrating his 40th birthday with his sister who was visiting Sydney for the first time. Plenty of things in common to chit-chat.

The seaplane landed in Rose Bay and we went out on a small boat to meet it. In the weather, Mrs andye's blowdry was knocked about a bit and there were a few splashes of water as it was a touch choppy

 

[andye]

I'm not a plane expert but the craft is a De Haviland Beaver DHC2. I've often looked at them flying over the Beaches and always wanted to go up in one

 

[andye]

We were given lifejackets which attached like a bumbag around the waist. There are 6 seats inside, one next to the pilot then 2 rows of two.
The inside is lined in leather. The dials on the instrument deck are nostalgic of countless history films.
The safety briefing from the pilot was pretty similar to any other flight allowing for the anatomy of the plane...

 

[Limewood]

Oh gee the Cottage Inn would go there in our Southern Cross 44 with boating friends from Akuna Bay, had some very long lunches there.

 

[andye]

...except you have to keep the headphones on rather than take them off

Legroom was excellent although the seatbelts are a little on the short side I found

The takeoff was very smooth; the pilot has to pull all sorts of levers which from a few feet behind is a show in itself

 

[andye]

It has stopped raining but still somewhat overcast. However the views over the Heads and the lower Northern Beaches were still impressive. With rugby and nippers we spend a lot of time traipsing up and down the coast but good to see it from a different perspective.

 

[RB]

Looks like a great experience, should get you in the good books

 

[andye]

After Long Reef and Narrabeen we turned NW over the Garigal and Ku-Ring-Gai parks

 

[LadyC]

What a fabulous birthday present!

 

[andye]

then landing at Cottage Point. Its a converted boathouse in the Hawkesbury River.The building is decorated in a beachside way. The building isn't fancy as you would expect in the city but the service and standards are defini tely fine dining. As well as seaplanes, boats pull up to the jetty for lunch.

 

[andye]

Mrs andye was feeling a bit queasy on landing. She felt it was the flight but we later agreed that the breakfast of cake and champagne was at least a factor. I was glad, not to say relieved, that she felt much better within a few minutes of landing.

A salmon in a pastry cornet came as an amuse-bouche

The 'shingle' was edible too

 

[andye]

The package was for 3 courses with us to settle any drinks bill. Mrs andye had the goats curf with artichoke, nashi, pear and hazelnut. It was served to resemble a bowl of cornflakes. I had charred octopus, raddichio, black pudding with hemp seeds. Both delicious

While Mrs andye had the Field Blend Victorian white , I had a Savignin-a wine I hadnt had before. It was a deep colour almost orange: interesting but likely to be a one-off

 

[carls888]

Wow, what a great idea for a present. Food looks yummy.

 

[VPS]

Excellent idea - worth lots of brownie points for you I'd imagine

 

[andye]

It is all very peaceful. You arecsurrounded bush and the Hawkesbury was quite fast-flowing. Neither of us had mobile reception (Telstra or Vodafone)
Our mains arrived:
I had the bass grouper with anchovy, peas, garlic and rosemary. Mrs andye had the Tajima Wagyu Beef with mustard greens, globe artichoke and onion caramel. There was a side-plate of raosted pumpkin. The fish was good but the beef outstanding. Vegetables all delish. The home-baked bread was beuatiful.
To finish I had the cheese plate and Mrs andye a liquorice cake with white chocoloate (no pics Im afraid)

There was a very lucky kookaburra who one of the waiters hand-fed strips of wagyu.

 

[andye]

The weather was a little cold at first butvthere are overhead heaters. After our leisurely lunch which included a tour of the single glasses on the wine list, it was time to return.
We headed up to Palm Beach, flying over Pittwater and back down the coast. There is a bit of a bump as you go over the Palm Beach headland.

 

[andye]

We came back over Manly, trying to see our house from above. We than had figure of eight over the Opera House with great views of the Bridge