It’s early in the morning and I join the school children in a variety of uniforms on the train from Sydney CBD to Cronulla. From Cronulla I take the little ferry to Bundeena. As I board the sky turns dark blue and grey. It won’t rain will it? Then the clouds break open and show a light blue sky.
From Bundeena it’s a 1km walk to the Royal National Park. Entering the park the small lizards made way for my big feet. It was very quiet and I seemed to disturb the birds and other wildlife. I heard little creatures running into the bushes and the birds were chirping loudly. This was going to be true bushwalk, with sand, mud, rocks, puddles of water and the burning sun.
I decided to do part of the Coast Track, a two-day trek along the coast of the Royal National park. If you get the chance, do the whole walk. If you keep up the speed it would even be possible in a day. But I admit, walking fast is tricky. Every 10 meters I see something I want to capture with my camera or stare around me open-mouthed. It is truly beautiful.
High cliffs reached me from the sea. The waves were crashing into them wildly. This is what walking in Australia is all about. I walk on top of the sandstone cliffs. The bush get thick at some points and every now and then there is a climb or descend over the wet rocks. Then I reach Marley beach.
There weren’t many footsteps in the sand. Most of them were animal tracks. So I figured I could follow the tracks to the other side. Not a good idea. I followed tracks for about half an hour before I decided to just take a way of my choosing. By that time I had climbed a dune, crossed some small rivers and got stuck in the wet beach sand. But I finally reached the other side. Strange were the sounds I heard on this beach. I really couldn’t place them.
After Marley beach I diverted from the coast track and went back via the Deer Pool route. This track leads to the road that will take you back to Bundeena. After the stunning views of the coast track, this was a bit disappointing. Sometimes I had to wrestle through the bush. It seemed like not many people came here and I was wondering if I was even on the right track.
At the Deer Pool I saw two guys and I decided to check if this track would lead me to the road. I was right. “Yes, it’s all the way up there.” One of the guys said with a big sigh. It turned out to be a short climb. I could hear the cars and Bundeena road turned out to be a busy one. Only a few hundred meters into the bush it was so quiet and here cars race through the landscape at 75km/h. If I could do this again, I would do the full route, but if you don’t have the time or equipment, even this part is definitely worth seeing.
