This was a pleasant day spent in the northern part of Royal National Park on a walk led by Brian Everingham for the National Parks Association of NSW. I travelled to Bundeena by train to Cronulla and then the Ferry.
At the wharf, we were met by the rest of the party, and we proceeded by car to a street near the Jibbon Beach. As well as Brian there were Ken, Gary, Graham, Sue, Sue, Esther and myself. We then walked down to the beach and along it towards Jibbon Head. On the way, Brian mentioned some fo the management issues – such as the beach not being in the park, and the area just behind the beach, which is park, being an endangered ecological community – being littoral rainforest.
When we arrived at the far end of the beach we took the walking track to Shelly Beach. We could see a lot of weeds growing on the headland.
At Shelly Beach, we walked north to Jibbon Head, watching some surfers enjoying the waves.
We then climbed up onto the observation platforms for the Aboriginal engravings. The high platforms give a good view of the large engravings of whales and sting rays.
We then walked back along the beach to the cars. A short drive then took us to Bonnie Vale. This is a very popular camping spot with a beach and wetland area. At present the campground is closed because of asbestos. In the park, we found a shady picnic table – a good lunch spot.
After looking for birds at the wetlands, we walked along the track to Cabbage Tree Basin. There we spent a bit of time swimming and snorkelling for some in the party. It was a very pleasant place. We then headed back to the start before making our way home.
