I decide to explore the park. Given that the weather forecasts for the weekend are mixed, I take a day off, and on a sunny Thursday morning, I make my way to the southern end of the park. The train takes lots of curves and slowly passes through beautiful eucalyptus woods, with small rivers and lakes inbetween. When I reach Otford train station at about 9h, the only other two persons who leave the train are two German girls. Could have been expected. First, we are many, second, we like nature, third, Australians get up earlier.
I walk for two hours through subtropical rainforest. The views over the South coast are awesome and temperatures are still bearable.
Finally the vegetation opens up, and I arrive at Burning Palms Beach. Well, this one has survived the fire.
From there, you can make a short detour to a famous spot just beneath the cliffs: Figure Eight pool. It is only accessible at low tide and essentially consists of stone ledges with deep water pools between them. (See also the blog background image on top.) After hours of walking, it is a pure joy to dive in, especially since barely anybody is there.
It is past noon and I have lunch, followed by a bath in the sea. I have to decide whether to go for the German Infantry Marching Prize and to complete the Coast Walk up to Bundeena. A little bit less than 30 km in total---people normally do this in two days. Unfortunately, I would have to make it before 19h: then, the last ferry departs and if I miss it, I will be stuck in the middle of nowhere. Also, I don’t know the terrain, I can’t refill my water and it is 30 degrees in the shadow. I postpone the decision until after a nap. When I wake up, it is one hour later, and the choice has been made for me. Not without a slight feeling of relief I return and walk back (this time not at the coast, but on the ridge). It is still a very honorable 25km walk and I arrive home exhausted, but happy.
Whenever you make it to Sydney, be sure not to miss this beauty!
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