Visit Sydney Australia
Full Day: Port Hacking
Start: Town Hall or Central Station
Finish: Town Hall or Central Station
Travel: Train, Illawarra Line
Duration: Full day
Points of Interest: Cronulla; Bundeena; Royal National Park
As well as being the only suburban Sydney beach which can be reached directly by train, Cronulla is situated near the estuary of Port Hacking, and so it is the Cronulla train which takes us our destination. Cronulla occupies a peninsula, with the Pacific ocean on one side, and Gunnamatta Bay - an inlet of Port Hacking - on the other. Surfers looking for good waves but less crowds find the ocean beaches around Cronulla fits the bill perfectly. But for those who pefer calm water, there are a number of ocean rock pools on the ocean side as well as a number of calm water beaches on Gunnamatta Bay. Everything.
All the activities on this itinerary are centred around Cronulla. Use it as your base to explore the area and visiting the attractions here. Cronulla well catered for when it comes to food and dribk, with many cafes, restaurants, bars and hotels to choose from.
A paved walking path leading from Cronulla Beach south beyond the Surf Club leads to a popular and pleasant walk is around the Cronulla Peninsula. The walk takes in Shelly Beach, Oak Park Beach, Darook Park, Bass and Flinders Point, Salmon Haul Bay, Gunnamatta Park and the entrance to Port Hacking. It returns walkers to Cronulla Park or the railway station via Nicholson Parade. There are numerous cafes and takeaways on the journey or in Cronulla's main shopping area. Easy walk. 3 km round trip - allow min. 1 hour.
Bass and Flinders Point on Port Hacking is named to acknowledge the visit of British explorers George Bass and Matthew Flinders in 1796. A plaque on the point describes their visit. They named Port Hacking at that time after Henry Hacking, quartermaster HMS Sirius, who was the Port Jackson harbour pilot. He discovered the waterway on a kangaroo hunting trip in 1788. According to Judge-Advocate David Collins, Hacking was "a wild, idle young man who preferred living among the natives to earning the wages of honest industry".
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Ferry Timetable
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One of the best ways to see the pristine waters and exceptionally clean beaches of Port Hacking is on the water itself. Cronulla and National Park Ferry Cruises operates a number of cruises out of Cronulla. You can experience the Hacking River while enjoying a Champagne Breakfast Cruises, Lunch Cruise, Sunset Dinner Cruise, a Live Music Cruises, or land on a secluded beach, swim in the clear clean waters while lunch or dinner is being prepared on board the vessel as part of a Cruise Swim 'n' Dine Cruise. The friendly and experienced crew share a deep love of the Hacking and the Royal National Park and share their knowledge of the area's rich Aboriginal culture and rock art sites. Which cruise you take depends on your budget and what other activities in and around Cronulla you wish to partake in. Cruises leave from the public wharf in Tonkin Street, Cronulla, behind the railway station.
The pleasant village of Bundeena is a 20 minute ferry ride away on the opposite shore of Port Hacking. The ferry leaves from thev public wharf in Tonkin Street behind the railway station, close to where the Cronulla Peninsula Walk ends. Bundeena has a few places where you can enjoy lunch or a coffee break. Alternatively there are picnic facilities around the beaches if you prefer to bring your own refreshments.
Bundeena has a number of fine beaches which are all in easy walking distance from the township. Pre-colonial Aboriginal engravings are visible on the Jibbon Headland, 20 minute walk from the township beyond Hordens Beach, where Port Hacking meets the Ocean. Numerous whales and sea creatures were carved into rock on Jibbon headland by the Dharawal during ceremonies 1,000 years ago. Among this ancient art is a depiction of Biame, the Sky Spirit and Gurrawul the Great Whale and hear who feature prominently in the Aboriginal Dreaming when life began. This important heritage site is well signposted with descriptions and interpretations of the art.
Bundeena is located within Royal National Park and because of its location has become the back door to the Park. As such it is the starting point for the popular Coast Track, a cross country hike which follows the coast south from Bundeena all the way to Otford at the southern end of the Park. 26km in length, it passes dramatic cliffs, beaches and escarpments, and offers some stunning and unique coastal views. The walk can tackled in sections or, if you re super-fit, in a single day. A great way to complete The Coast track walk, though, is to make it a two-day backpack trip with an overnight stop at North Era campground. Plan your walk during whale watching season to spot migrating humpback whales. Although if you go in summer, you can cool off with a swim at Little Marley, Wattamolla, Garie, North Era or Burning Palms Beach.
If you intend to walk part or all of the Coast Track, this activity will take up a large part of your day, so aim to make the walk your sole activity, unless you intend to spread it out over a number of days.
Port Hacking is a tide dominated, drowned valley estuary located approximately 30 kilometres south of the Sydney central business district. Much smaller than Sydney Harbour, Port Hacking has its source in the upper reaches of the Hacking River and several smaller creeks. The waterway is the northern boundary of Royal National Park.
Port Hacking and the the suburbs and localities that surround it are in the Shire of Sutherland, and as a consequence the locals refer to the whole area as The Shire . Port Hacking effectively forms the southern boundary of Sydney's suburban sprawl. The southern bank is largely undeveloped land within the Royal National Park, although the small communities of Bundeena and Maianbar are found there.
When development occurred around the Port Hacking foreshore, the priority appears to have been the creation of as many waterfront properties as possible, no doubt for the revenue they generate. As a result, access to the natural beauty surrounding Port Hacking s north shore suburbs is restricted to tiny pockets of bushland around the creeks, and some harbourside reserves. These reserves are excellent and have good facilities, but there are not enough of them.
Jibbon Head rock engraving site
