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Tag: Sydney

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Royal National Park

Wedding Cake Rock Royal National Park Sydney

Royal National Park is located south of Sydney. To drive there from Singleton took us 4 hours, because we drove through Sydney and hit rush hour traffic . Once we arrived however it was worth it because of the fantastic scenery. 

  • Royal National Park Map
    Royal National Park Map

Visitor Information Centre

Our first stop was the Visitor Information Centre which caters for the national park, where we got directions to the Wedding Cake Rock car park.. After a coffee we set off to Bundeena where we parked in the small car park and set of for our walk.

The Balconies

Our first track took us to the balconies which was only 800 metres from the car park. As well as fantastic views along the coast, you can see the cliff faces going down into the ocean. There are also some fantastic weathered rock formations and we spent some time looking around them and taking photos.

  • Coastal Cliffs Royal National Park Sydney
    Coastal Cliffs
  • Weathered Rocks Royal National Park Sydney
    Weathered Rocks
  • Weathered Rocks Royal National Park Sydney
    Weathered Rocks

Royal National Park  Walking Tracks

The next destination was nearly four km away and the walking track changed from dirt and rock to a mostly metal foot way which made walking easy. However, there were some very steep sections with steps cut into the rocks and stairs constructed so you get up or down. There is one very large valley, where a creek runs down into the sea. with some fantastic sandstone stepping-stones to get from one side to the other. These are as interesting as your destination and we stopped it take some photos.

  • Metal Walk Way Royal National Park Sydney
    Metal Walk Way
  • Banksia ericifolia Royal National Park Sydney
    Banksia ericifolia
  • Sandstone Stepping Stones Royal National Park Sydney
    Sandstone Stepping Stones
  • Sandstone Stepping Stones Royal National Park Sydney
    Sandstone Stepping Stones

Wedding Cake Rock

The most famous part of this section of Royal National Park is the Wedding Cake Rock. The rock itself is unstable and fenced off with warning signs, because several people have fallen. However, there an ample opportunities and places where you can take photographs of the rock without having to climb the fence and put your life at risk.

  • Wedding Cake Rock Royal National Park Sydney
    Wedding Cake Rock

Lunch

The walk back to our car took about 45 minutes as we didn’t stop for many photos. We drove back to the Visitor Information Centre and sat outside at the Ironbark Flat Picnic Area, where we had lunch. This is a great picnic area set up next to the Hacking River, where we also took some photos of the birds that flocked around when we ate.

  • Sulphur Crested Cockatoo Royal National Park Sydney
    Sulphur Crested Cockatoo
  • Purple Swamphen Royal National Park Sydney
    Purple Swamphen

To see what else there is to do in New South Wales, please see some of our other stories.

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Justice and Police Museum

De Gracy Mug Shot Justice and Police Museum Sydney

Justice and Police Museum

Located opposite the eastern end of Circular Quay the Justice and Police Museum is very easy to get to. Outside there are silhouettes of criminals, which look fantastic, and a great photo opportunity.  Unfortunately the museum is only open on weekends, so if you want to visit, keep this in mind. The building consists of the old water police office and courtroom, the old police watch house, holding cells and their old courtroom.

  • Criminal Silhouettes Justice and Police Museum Sydney
    Criminal Silhouettes

The museum would be worth visiting just for the buildings themselves as the courtroom was designed by James Barnet. The courtroom still has the prisoners’ dock present and the watch house has the front desk and interrogation dock present.

  • Prisoners' Dock Justice and Police Museum Sydney
    Prisoners’ Dock
  • Police Desk Justice and Police Museum Sydney
    Police Desk

The old holding cells have displays of old mug shots showing how they evolved with time. Some notorious criminals have their crimes and mugshots on the walls (the criminals in the 20’s got to pose how they wanted ……. just a small bit of knowledge learnt on the day) along with a display of weaponry, both police and criminal.

  • Old Mug Shots Justice and Police Museum Sydney
    Old Mug Shots
  • Weapons on Display Justice and Police Museum Sydney
    Weapons on Display

The volunteers present were fantastic and made our visit memorable. They gave us a better insight into the operation of the building, took fingerprints and explained the operation of the station and treatment of the criminals.

A great place to visit, see some mug shots, read some criminal history, see some cells and courtrooms all in an hour. This is a little museum, but very well set up and interesting! Would definitely visit her again.

To see what else there is to do in New South Wales, please see some of our other stories.

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Homebush Bay Ship Wrecks

SS Ayrfield


Homebush Bay Ship Wrecks

Hidden in plain sight are some fantastic shipwrecks on the Parramatta River right in Sydney not far from Olympic Park. We walked to the Homebush Bay ship wrecks from the Newington Armory, but driving or using public transport would also work fine. We left the area using the ferry to circular quay, which took an hour.  From the water you get an amazing view of both sides of the river, good picture opportunities!

Access

There is a walk and bike track that leads to the shipwreck lookout. This side track is a dirt path and very easily overlooked. If you are not sure, there is s a large metal plaque at the start of the track. We also found that  google maps was very accurate in this area.

The Wrecks

The lookout track has a small side path about half way along on the right hand side. This takes you to a small lookout platform over the river to a shipwreck (the tug Heroic) in the mangroves.

  • Tug Heroic Homebush Bay Ship Wrecks
    Tug Heroic
  • SS Heroic in Mangroves
    SS Heroic in Mangroves
  • SS Heroic in Mangroves
    SS Heroic in Mangroves

At the end of the track there is a well constructed viewing area with a telescope where you can see the wrecks of the SS Mortlake Bank and SS Ayrfield. Two wrecked wooden barges are also located at the end of the viewing platform, so look out for them too.

  • SS Mortlake Bank Homebush Bay Ship Wrecks
    SS Mortlake Bank
  • SS Ayrfield Homebush Bay Ship Wrecks
    SS Ayrfield
  • SS Ayrfield
    Now Overgrown with Trees SS Ayrfield
  • SS Ayrfield
    SS Ayrfield
  • Wrecked Barges Homebush Bay Ship Wrecks
    Wrecked Barges
  • Wrecked Barges Homebush Bay
    Wrecked Barges Homebush Bay

Returning back to the main walkway and continuing on it for about 20 minutes, you will find a sign board for the HMAS Karangi. It is visible through the mangroves and looks amazing, being overgrown with trees. Unfortunately trying to get a clear photo from the shore proved too difficult with the trees in the way

  • HMAS Karangi Homebush Bay Ship Wrecks
    HMAS Karangi

As the SS Mortlake Bank and SS Ayrfield are clearly visible, we walked around to the far side of Wentworth Point to take photos from a different perspective.

Getting Back To Sydney CBD

From here we walked to the ferry wharf, where there is a small shopping centre with several eateries and a supermarket, which was  convenient to grab some snacks for the ride . The ferry trip takes an hour to get to Circular Quay.

The Homebush Bay ship wrecks are great to visit for something a bit different to see. Make a day of it and go to the Newington Armory as well.

To see what else there is to do in New South Wales, please see some of our other stories.

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