Exploring the Royal National Park near Sydney
We had followed the uneven, rocky path through the lush rainforest for a while when the eucalyptus trees and ferns started to become fewer and fewer. Eventually, tall bushes of thick grass replaced them with just a few trees dotted around. Then we saw the beach. Surrounded by a lush green canopy of palm trees, waves were crashing dramatically onto the picturesque Burning Palm Beach. It was as beautiful as it was unexpected to us, considering we had just taken that route to get to the Figure of Eight pools. The scenery looked a lot more like Asia than we’d have expected in the Royal National Park, merely an hour away from Sydney’s city centre.
I often find that I have the best travel experience on a whim, when I don’t really do a lot of research and I stumble over unexpected beauty and experiences. When Liam came over from Perth for a visit, we decided that we wanted to get out of the city for a day. The Blue Mountains are a great day trip and so is the Hunter Valley for a wine tour, however we didn’t fancy sitting in the car for too long and neither of us had been to the Royal National Park just south of Sydney. So we just booked a small car via Kayak (38 AUD / 21 GBP) for the day and headed off to the Royal National Park, just under an hour from Kings Cross where we picked up the car.
It’s really surprising how close this gem is to Sydney – one minute you’re still driving in a busy urban area, and the next you’re out in the wild of this 151-km2 terrain which is actually the second oldest national park in the world after Yellowstone.
We’d heard from friends about Wedding Cake Rock and the Figure of Eight pools, so these were our the only two on our short list of destinations for the day. Other than that, we just wanted to explore the area. We followed the hike to the Figure of Eight pools via Burning Palms Beach, thinking it takes 2- 3 hours, but it turned out that this is just to get to the beach. Getting to the Figure of Eight Pools and back is more like 2 hours each way. We stopped frequently to enjoy the seriously spectacular views on the track before we strolled along the beach towards the rocks underneath the cliff that would take us to the Figure of Eight pools, not too concerned with timings either way.
Hiking across these rocks is really only feasible at low tide, which we accidentally hit. Nevertheless, it was challenging not to get wet or slip with the rough seas on the day crushing in and making the rocks very slippery. I felt captured by the force of the elements with the ocean raging against and on top of the rocks. Halfway through the track though, we decided that enough was enough, as the sea just seemed to become rougher by the minute and the route ahead was nearly impassable as it was anyway. We turned around and found a little grassy patch sheltered by rocks and overlooking the beach for a break. And as if all that beauty wasn’t enough for one day, Liam even spotted a little wallaby on the way back, jumping about in the thick bushes along the track.
On route to the famous Wedding Cake Rock – a piece of rock that literally looks like a piece of wedding cake – we did brief stopovers at Garie Beach and Wattamolla. The latter is a lagoon and beach complex, and both of these stops feature wonderful beaches, which, on a cloudy day like this, were almost empty. We were told that the place is cramped in summer, so I was actually glad that we came in autumn to be able to enjoy the beautiful scenery almost to ourselves.
The hike to Wedding Cake Rock takes around 30 minutes. It was considerably busier than the parts of the Royal National Park we had already seen, and easier to walk. In many parts, this hike has steps to facilitate the descents and ascent, of which there are quite a few, as well as manmade stepping stones to cross the streams. It’s definitely worthwhile despite the crowds, not just for Wedding Cake Rock itself, but also because of all the oddly shaped rocks and the stunning views across the cliffs and the ocean.
