The Oaks in Neutral Bay is just a walking distance from our place. Although, it has always been quite inviting, I have recently started to go there. Being a pub and everything, we actually didn’t expect it to be vegetarian friendly. But, that’s not the case.
So far, I have had their veggie burger and one of the vegetarian gourmet pizzas. The veggie burger is grilled zucchini and eggplant, roasted tomato, rocket, halloumi  cheese, caramelised onion, aioli and fries. The whole ensemble is huge; you wouldn’t go hungry. The gourmet pizza I had was Mixed Wild Mushrooms, garlic, mozzarella and truffle oil. It was one tasty pizza. Actually it puts Crust on the other side of the road into shame.
The best feature of The Oaks is its signature oak tree in the middle of the outdoor beer garden. It is “the” oak tree and it’s 78 years old. It was planted in August 1938 by Kathleen McGill. The sapling came from the old Anthony Horden’s department store on George Street as a gift with every purchase over 10 pounds.
The magnificient oak tree (above).
And this is what it looks like when the lights are on, providing an all-year-around Xmas tree.
The Gap is basically the mouth of Sydney Harbour with its sandstone cliffs on both sides and spectacular views of Tasman Sea, the city and surrounding bays. The area was used in Mission Impossible II. Remember that scene when Tom Cruise was climbing a cliff? That’s what I’m talking about. Every time we have visitors staying with us, we take them to The Gap. Hoping to spot a southern right whale or a humpback whale one day as the coastal waters around The Gap are a migration route for these majestic animals.
