The Coastal Walk in Royal National Park has been rebranded as the “Royal Coastal Walk” – in a welcome series of new signs.
The new signs not only give visitors and idea of what things (e.g. animals and plants) to look out for, but also have maps showing the track network and the location of the sign relative to Bundeena and Otford. The signs have been supplemented with a lot of new marker posts that show where the track goes. These will be a big help in some places where the track is very braided – keeping walkers on the one path, and allowing the other paths to revegetate.
What magnificent coastal scenery this track covers. A huge variety of scenery. Heath covered cliffs, beaches, rock platforms, truncated headlands, lagoons, inlets, rainforest, waterfalls….. a very diverse landscape. Also lots of birds, animals and plants.
This is a great walk at any time of the year – there are different things to see. On my walk I could not help noticing all the wildflowers. I was a bit late in the season – but there were still a lot of flowers in full bloom. Near, where I started at Bundeena, there were myriads of fringe lilies out. These beautiful purple flowers only come out for a single day. On an earlier visit, only a week before – none were out. I was also lucky enough to spot two echidnas – right near the track. This is perhaps a benefit of walking solo.
At Eagle Rock, there were no eagles, but there was a peregrine falcon sitting on top of it.
My visit to the park was motivated by photography. I wanted to record some of what this stretch of coastline offers. To do this – you need to move slowly, observing many things that a casual walker would simply walk past. Its a well visited and well photographed area -and its always a challenge to try and get photos that are a bit different to what others bring back. This to me is an ongoing challenge – I will have to return.
This is a park where the more you look, the more you see. So much wild beauty.
A lot more photos can be seen in my online Photo Essay.
Hey Dave, was just looking up Eagle Rock as a potential sunset picnic place for tonight with Martin. And found this! Great shots, as always, and info. I didn’t know there were new signs. Cool. Love the little echidna!!
Lou-Lou