The Coastal Walk in the Royal National Park is only just south of Sydney, but this wonderfully accessible two day walk is as good as any in Australia.

I love my life but God,Sydney looks good at times!  A life that can be lived in shorts and sandals, pavement cafes and coffee culture under cloudless skies, split level houses overlooking blue oceans with infinity pools and dinky boathouses, clean golden beaches, the endless murmuring of the sea below rugged coastal walks..

Previously Cronulla had only rung vague bells involving Lebanese rioting on Australia Day, but now we were here, I was impressed. Too far off the beaten track for most backpackers, the place has a nice relaxed vibe, families picnicking on the shady lawns above the beach, their children chasing the ever present seagulls. Surfies trail back from the waves, people say hello to each other and stop to chat in the street. There are lots of nice cafes for whiling away the time, sandstone cliffs for picnics or sunset chilling, cool bars for the black clad in-crowd.

We were experiencing our first AIRBNB as guests – and very nice it was too, a little apartment only 15 minutes from the train station whose greatest attribute was that the hostess had disappeared herself whilst unfortunately leaving behind some very dodgy pillows, which was a shame as everything else was great.

It was to be our stepping off point for the Royal National Park and the Coastal Walk, just across the water to the south of town. The Royal National Park was originally just the National Park way back when – in 1897 actually, making it the world’s second oldest national park after Yellowstone. Then the Queen passed by in a train one day en route to Wollongong and it became the Royal National Park.

The Coastal Walk is 27 km long and runs from Bundeena to Otford, largely following the coast due south. A jaunty little green and yellow ferry regularly leaves from the jetty below the Cronulla train station for the 30 minute trip to Bundeena. Unfortunately, as we were starting the walk on a Saturday, the first ferry did not depart until 8.30 am (6.30 am weekdays) so we did not actually start walking until 9 am.

I made a serious mistake here: I included the Jibbon Track loop in  our itinerary for the day. There was no mistake scenery wise: winding east out through Bundeena we dropped down to Jibbon Beach and followed its perfect crescent, with great views over Cronulla and even the far off shadowy skyscrapers of the city. We saw the Jibbon aboriginal carvings: on a large expanse of flat sandstone, one could just about make out the etched outlines of three gigantic whales, a stingray and a mythical beast.

At Port Hacking Point we said goodbye to Cronulla whilst enjoying the dramatic sandstone scenery as the track turned south. However it then swung inland and continued uphill for 2 km, not normally a problem, but it was a baking 30°, we were sinking into soft sand and carrying heavy overnight backpacks.

2 ½ hours after leaving the wharf, we emerged by the car park at the official start of the walk. In danger of overheating and dripping with sweat, we found a lifesaving toilet block and put our heads under the cold tap. We then collapsed in the shade to recover. Meanwhile, immaculate Asians emerged from air conditioned cars and strolled along in a different world, looking like dainty Bo Peeps in their frilly dresses and bobby socks.

Finally we started out on the 17 km walk to North Era campground but it was already midday, far too late to start a 7 hour walk. Plus the scenery was stunning: you just don’t want to rush this experience and will want to take a heap of photos. Most of the Asians didn’t get beyond the 700 m to the Balconies, massive tiered expanses of smooth sandstone with sheer cliffs dropping to the sea.

We stopped for lunch on another flat expanse. Here the heathland vegetation came right to the edge of the cliff, sculptured by the winds. Scattered plant growth on the face created a hanging paradisiacal gardens.

300 m on, Wedding Cake rock is now closed for business and sadly blocked off with fencing. All the mineral ore has been leached from the rock leaving a gloriously white cube but it is dangerously fractured and could break off at any moment. I think they should just put a note live dangerously! and let people make their own mind up: the fencing isn’t very attractive.

The path carries on through thick vegetation for a while but soon we emerged to great views over Marley Beach. We continued on to the smaller, more intimate Little Marley Beach and cooled off in the low twisted trees that lined the back of the beach. It was an area that had been well used for camping and we even found two chairs: I would have happily stopped then but it was not the official campsite that we had booked so we carried on.

Soon afterwards we came to the wonderful Wattamolla dam: there was no need for conferring, we were going in this one! Gloriously cold refreshing water revived us for the journey and we pushed on, past the beautifully sheltered beach at Wattamolla and up to more stunning views from Provincial Head. We then entered an area of carved sandstone, like a mini Utah, the little formations with ice lolly stripes in delicate ochres, burnt sienna and golds. With the sun getting low in the sky, the colours were very intense.

A burnt area was interspersed with vibrant new vegetation as we followed the boardwalk over a pretty little creek and onto a headland again. Sheer dark cliffs fell to pounding seas and as we rounded a corner, the distinctive outline of Eagle Rock came into view. I thought it looked more like a turtle but I guess it could qualify as a flying eagle at a push. Three backpackers had beaten us to it so they were featured on our sunset photos and the haunting booming of their didgeridoo echoed around the escarpment.

It was now gone 7 pm and our reserved campsite was still a couple of up and down hours away. We had already walked for about 10 hours and were knackered: we decided to call it a day and pitched our tent under the sheltering cliffs of a sandstone ledge. There was a sheer drop away to the sea and Eagle Rock loomed out of the starlit sky and we were happy to stop at such a dramatic point. The National Park really needs another campsite to make this a three day walk, Little Marley Beach would have been a perfect stop on the first day.

We fell asleep to the booming of the waves as they crashed into the cliffs below, undermining the softer strata.

Day 2

Early aeroplanes on the Sydney flight path alerted us to dawn over the crashing waves. We awoke to low grey cloud on the horizon and a rolling mercury sea. A mound on top of Eagle Rock was all that could be seen of the backpackers who had slept there the previous night. Sunset was slow in coming but eventually the rock was lit up with biblical rays so we took our photos and moved on. The nearby waterfall was glowing red and reminded me of something you would see in the Territory: one doesn’t expect such colours so close to Sydney.

Meandering on, our track led through a burnt landscape of popping seed heads with deer tracks on the path from nocturnal wanderings. We emerged high above Garie Beach to find the surfers already well established and a presumably unofficial campsite at its northern end. Yomping along the beach, we felt rather overdressed in our hiking kit.  

Between Garie and Burning Palms, there are many shack communities, built between 1910 and 1950. When their owners died, Parks used to pull them down until finally there was a movement to preserve their unique heritage. They make quite a jolly collection of all shapes and sizes and the attraction of owning one is obvious.

Another glorious balcony view revealed the camp we didn’t make the previous night: North Era beach is lovely but the campsite is just bare unshaded grass in a gully above it. A short walk over another headland bought us to South Era Beach, with its surf club, then a grassy track led up and over to Burning Palms Beach, famous for its Figure of Eight Pools, scenically sited under some high cliffs.

We paused to watch some dolphins playing in the waves, catching and riding them more elegantly than any surfer. Now our track led us into a pocket of rainforest, all big palms, lianas and lush vegetation. The track climbed steadily upwards then turned a right angle where one could clearly see the cut off point between the rainforest and eucalyptus trees. A final steep ascent and we were treated to a last super lookout, over Werrong. It is a nudist beach but you would have to be quite an enthusiastic one as the beach is at the bottom of a steep 1.1 km track. We were too far away for any finer details but Wollongong was visible to the south.

The last couple of km were a pleasant walk along the top of the escarpment amongst tall trees and we soon emerged at the car park at Otford. En route to the train station we revived with a coffee at the Otford Pantry cafe, jolly enough with a good range of cakes but very slow service. We just made the final dash down a very steep hill to get our train back to Sydney.

And indeed this is one of the great glories of this walk: only an hour from the CBD (much less actually if Australia had decent, faster trains!) with great transport links at each end, you can find yourself in a wonderful wilderness of dramatic coastal scenery and stunning views. This is the equal of many walks that are a hell of a lot harder to get to yet you have hardly left Sydney – don’t miss it!

Notes

There are lots of great cafes at Cronulla: try 96 Degrees on Ocean Grove Avenue or Nulla Nulla on Cronulla Street – there are a couple of supermarkets for supplies on the same street, along with a Baker’s Delight for fresh bread. Opah has scenic upstairs dining on the corner of Kingsway and Gerrale Street. Our Airbnb can be found under Cronulla listings – look for Cosy at Cronulla; it was a simple good value apartment for two people with little kitchen and a good shower. Hopefully she might have upgraded the pillows for the next visitors. The riots happened in 2005 so are not a regular occurrence!.

More information on the Royal National Park here. Entrance is free for walkers. The track can be walked in either direction. From Bundeena to Garie there are a lot of boardwalks which make walking quite easy. The track gets a lot more rugged after South Garie Beach. It is well sign posted with information boards and directional signposts: you should not get lost!

Camping at North Era campground, $12 per site per night. There is a limit of one night. Online bookings can be made here.

There are regular ferries from/to Cronulla and Bundeena. Ferry timetable here. Trains to/from Sydney and Otford are every couple of hours. Train Timetable here.

The Park notes say there is no water en route: there is heaps particularly in the section south to Garie Beach, with regular creek crossings and dams, including after the Balconies, Little Marley beach, Wattamolla, public toilets at Curracurrang and the waterfall just past Eagle Rock. Treat if you wish. After Garie and its toilets, the creeks seemed to be dry.

Want help? Check out Royal Coast Walks for guided camping and meals, or the Coast Track for glamping with mattresses, 4-course meals and masseur!