Bundeena is located in the Southern Sydney and under the purview of Sutherland Shire Council. This suburb is kind of secluded because it has Royal National Park at its backyard. It can be reached by 20 minute ferry ride from Cronulla or by car via Sutherland or Waterfall.
In Aborigin language, Bundeena carries the meaning of 'noise of thunder'. People speculated that name refers to the sound of the wave at Hordens Bay. Bundeena was first identified as unsuitable for settlement until land grants were given in 1830s. After that, the area started to develop. There are about 2,000 residents in Bundeena currently.
Other than the nice beaches, one can explore Royal National Park via Bundeena.
And that's what we did.
- We caught the early train to Cronulla Station on Sunday morning to save the public transport cost. (Note: Sunday travel is capped at AUD 2.50, big win!)
- Upon reaching Cronulla Station, we followed the sign 'Bundeena Ferry' to the wharf and waited for the ferry. The ferry's schedule can be checked here and don't miss it because it comes in 1 hour interval only.
- We boarded the ferry and paid the ticket on board. It cost AUD 7 per person per trip.
- After 20 minute journey, we reached Bundeena Wharf and started our trekking journey through the residential area and finally Royal National Park
- We stopped briefly at every single nice view that we encountered until we reached our final destination: Wedding Cake Rock.
- We walked back to Bundeena, got us some drinks at the IGA supermarket and waited for the ferry to bring us back to Cronulla.
- Being standby at the wharf a few minute before the ferry came, we boarded the ferry and paid another AUD 7 for the journey back.
- We had our extremely late lunch at an amazing local cafe in Cronulla.
- We took the train back home.
The whole journey took us 7 hours in total (1 hour train journey to Cronulla + 30 minute ferry ride to Bundeena + 3 hour trekking + 30 minute ferry ride + 1 hour lunch + 1 hour train journey back home). The sun was shining so bright that day and we brought back reddish sunburnt skin back home.
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| Bundeena Ferry |
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| Hordens Bay |
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| Bundeena Wharf |
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| The walking trail |
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| The first stop which is called The Balcony |
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| All the results of erosion |
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| Still far to get to the Wedding Cake Rock |
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| All the rocks get the funny shapes from the water and the wind |
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| Rocks and not logs |
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| Another stop |
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| Hanging rock |
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| Rough sea down below |
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| Can't resist not to pose |
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| The walking trail was much better that I have expected |
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| Another stop |
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| There're ups and downs |
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| The Wedding Cake Rock is the white dot over there |
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| Wedding Cake Rock, finally!!! |
Wedding Cake Rock is a sandstone rock formation suspended 25 m above the sea level and found to be highly unstable. The rocks have been bleached to white colour by the abrasion and they are weaker than the surrounding sandstone. It gets the name from the resemblance to a cut wedding cake. The rock formation has a really wide crack about twenty metres away from the edge. Therefore, the area has been fenced up and closed to public.
