Tag Archives: bundeena

Holiday

Bundeena – A Retreat – Part 5

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The highlight of the walk for me was the carvings on the sandstone platforms. The Royal National Park is in Dharawal country. This country stretches from the southern shores of Botany Bay, west to Campbelltown, and as far south as the Shoalhaven River in Nowra.

The Dharawal are saltwater people, and the carvings of their food sources – mostly sea-creatures – illustrates that. This is an education site, teaching the young men about hunting.

Elsewhere on the walk I encountered more fabulously weathered sandstone, a real highlight on any walk in the Sydney Basin coastline.

We’ve come to the end of our little Bundeena retreat. Next time, I’ll start off on new series somewhere in New South Wales.

Holiday

Bundeena – A Retreat – Part 4

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Many people choose to stay in Bundeena due to its proximity to the Royal National Park. It is Australia’s oldest national park and the 2nd oldest national park in the world after Yellowstone National Park in USA. It has many, many walks, but I was interested in the easier, shorter walks that are accessible from Bundeena. So I tried the Jibbon Head Loop track.

After walking out of the southern reaches of the village, the walk started on a track across the sandy heath. Here, only hardy sand-loving plants such as banksias and tea-tree shrubs seem to grow. There were also signs of the many bushfires that have run through this part of the national park.

It wasn’t long before I sighted the water, with distant views of the Sydney city skyline.

Holiday

Bundeena – A Retreat – Part 1

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In May 2024, I spent a lovely week retreating in the village of Bundeena. Bundeena is a village that’s uniquely placed – it is surrounded by the Royal National Park, and yet it’s just across the Hacking River from the suburban expanse of Cronulla and the Sutherland Shire.

The week was spent having dips at its beaches, and walking the National Park and around the village. I was almost completely on my own, and yet since I was in the village, I wasn’t alone really. I had nice little chats with locals every day.

I think I’ll start the series with beach views. Bundeena is blessed with quite a few. They’re not ocean beaches, hence not spectacular or expansive. I like them because they have a cosy feeling about them and are rarely crowded. And staying in the village meant that they were always just a short walk away.