Getting the F*ck Out of Sydney. 

At last. This weekend we were able to get out of Sydney. Not out of “Greater” Sydney, but at least out of the fecking city. It’s been too long. For me anyway. A lot of people like Sydney but for me it’s just OK. And it’s only OK if I know I can get the hell out of it at the weekends…

So where could we go and still be in “Greater Sydney”? Well, actually, a place that has been on my radar for some time now. In fact ever since one year and one month ago! When we visited Wattamolla beach in September 2020.

The place? Bundeena in the Royal National Park and a coastal walk to Wedding Cake Rock.

Bundeena

Situated on the south side of the Hacking river estuary the small quaint little town of Bundeena can only be reached via the road that goes through the middle of the Royal National Park. One road in, one out. The only other way to get to it is via the water. A small ferry that runs between Bundeena and Cronulla (on the north side of the estuary). It’s more of a village than a town really. A nice little place.

Wedding Cake Rock

The oddly named geological attraction on the coastal walk out of Bundeena is the main reason most people go there. The name is obvious once you see the rock formation.

The path there is stunning all the way. As famous as this part of the world is for its beaches, most of the coastline is actually taken up with sheer cliffs and crazy ragged rock formations.  When we arrived at the Wedding Cake Rock it immediately looked disappointing. Which sounds a bit unfair, so let me explain.

The rock itself is fenced off. For the protection of idiot tourists who may want to jump on it for a photo opportunity. And let’s face it there are plenty of them out there these days. Way more than ever what with Instagram and all that crap, they all want to star in their own movie. So the fence is there to protect such idiots because the ‘rock’ itself looks like it could fall into the sea – which is some way below – at any time.

That said, you can still get a decent view of it although perhaps not quite good enough for that “money shot”. But in reality none of that matters because the getting there is spectacular enough in itself.

You can see right away how it got its name. It’s almost like layers of icing sugar. But also looks like a stack of old mattresses from one angle. To be fair there are probably better shots available on the internet somewhere but these were the ones we made today.

Even if – or more exact, when – this rock crumbles into the sea, this coastal walk will still be well worth the effort.

The coastal path walk goes on for another few kilometres as far as Marley Beach. We stopped and turned back a little before that. Even so, in the end the round trip came to 11km! More than enough for Dani’s spindly little legs. He was totally knackered!

Then back to Bundeema for a beer and meal form one of the (relatively) many restaurants/cafés. For a day out of the city this was the perfect antidote to the four month long lockdown. And of course any part of the Royal National Park is always worth a visit.