Flying in the COVID era

Garry and I have enjoyed our first flight since the COVID-19 pandemic all but shut down the world's aviation sector.  I surprised Garry for his birthday with a seaplane flight to Berowra Waters for lunch at Berowra Waters Inn.  I've always wanted to dine at this iconic Australian culinary institution.  However, its relatively remote location made it challenging to organise an outing.

The restaurant is located on the banks of Berowra Creek (a tributary of the Hawkesbury River). It's only accessible by water. Guests arrive either by boat from nearby wharves or by seaplane from Sydney's seaplane base at Rose Bay. The original restaurant was established by Gay and Tony Bilson in 1975. Since then a number renown celebrity chefs have owned and operated the restaurant in its distinctive glass-fronted building. 

I booked our outing months ago.  As a result, I endured a few nerve-wracking days last week as wet and windy weather swept across Sydney.  However, I needn't have worried. Saturday dawned bright and clear with sunny and ambient conditions.

Our flight from Rose Bay included a brief figure of eight around the inner harbour before heading around North Head and up the Northern Beaches coastline. The view was simply sublime.  We landed a few hundred metres from the restaurant after an exhilarating descent that saw us wind our way through the valleys framing Berowra Creek.

Lunch was a decadent eight-course degustation menu that included plenty of local and native produce.  It was hard to pick a favourite course.  However, the Kangaroo Pastrami was a winner for me while Garry went for the Tooheys Old & Malt ice cream.  Both of us also enjoyed the restaurant's signature dish of Crab Custard and Miso.

Garry's birthday outing had one more unexpected surprise. On the way home the pilot invited him to sit in the co-pilot's seat and enjoy an unrivalled view of the Sydney region as we returned to Rose Bay.  Our first COVID-era flights were definitely well worth the wait!