Frommer's Australia from $50 a Day 13th Edition - To Parent Directory

WHAT TO SEE & DO IN SYDNEY 147
Ku-ring-gai Chase National Park (& 02/9457 9322 or 02/9457 9310) is a
great place to take a bushwalk through gum trees and rainforest on the lookout
for wildflowers, sandstone rock formations, and Aboriginal art. There are plenty
of tracks through the park, but one of my favorites is the relatively easy Track 12,
a 2.5km (1.5-mile) tramp to The Basin. The well-graded dirt path takes you
down to a popular estuary with a beach and passes some significant Aboriginal
engravings. There are also some wonderful water views over Pittwater from the
picnic areas at West Head. Pick up a free walking guide at the park entrance, or
gather maps and information in Sydney at the National Parks & Wildlife Service’s
center at Cadmans Cottage, 110 George St., The Rocks (& 02/9247 8861).
The park is open from sunrise to sunset, and admission is A$10 (US$6.50) per
car. You can either drive to the park or catch a ferry from Palm Beach to The
Basin (from where you can walk up Track 12 and back). Ferries run on the hour
(except at 1pm) from 9am to 5pm daily and cost A$4 (US$2.60) one-way; call
& 02/9918 2747 for details. Shorelink bus no. 577 runs from the Turramurra
CityRail station to the nearby park entrance every hour on weekdays and every 2
hours on weekends; call & 02/9457 8888 for details. There is no train service to
the park. Camping is allowed only at The Basin (& 02/9457 9853) and costs
A$12 (US$7.80) for two people booked in advance.
If you have a car, you could visit the Ku-ring-gai Wildflower Garden, 420
Mona Vale Rd., St Ives (& 02/9440 8609), which is essentially a huge area of
natural bushland and a center for urban bushland education. There are plenty
of bushwalking tracks, self-guided walks, and a number of nature-based activities.
It’s open daily from 8am to 4pm. Admission is A$2.50 (US$1.60) for
adults, A$1 (US65¢) for children, and A$6 (US$3.90) for families.
To the south of Sydney is the remarkable Royal National Park, Farrell
Avenue, Sutherland (& 02/9542 0648). It’s the world’s oldest national park,
having been gazetted as such in 1879. (The main competitor to the title is Yellowstone
in the United States, which was set aside for conservation in 1872 but
not designated as a national park until 1883.) Severe bushfires almost destroyed
the whole lot in early 1994, but the trees and bush plants have recovered remarkably,
despite other major fire outbreaks in 2001 and 2003. There’s no visitor
center, but you can get park information at park entrances, where you’ll have to
pay a A$10 (US$6.50) per car entry fee.
There are several ways to access the park, but my favorites are the little-known
access points from Bundeena and Otford. To get to Bundeena, take a CityRail
train from Central Station to Cronulla. Just below the train station you’ll find
Cronulla Wharf. From there, hop on the delightful ferry run by National Park
Ferries (& 02/9523 2990) to Bundeena; ferries run hourly on the half-hour
(except 12:30pm) and stop at around 7pm. After you get off the ferry, the first
turn on your left just up the hill will take you to Bundeena Beach. It’s another
5km (3 miles) or so to the wonderfully remote Little Marley Beach, via Marley
Beach (which has dangerous surf). The ferry returns to Cronulla from Bundeena
hourly on the hour (except 1pm). The fare is A$3.50 (US$2.30) each way.
An alternative way to reach the park is to take the train from Central Station to
Otford, then climb the hill up to the sea cliffs. If you’re driving, you might want
to follow the scenic cliff-edge road down into Wollongong. The entrance to the
national park is a little tricky to find, so you might have to ask directions—but
roughly it’s just to the left of a cliff top popular for hang gliding, radio-controlled
airplanes, and kites. A 2-hour walk from the sea cliffs through beautiful and varying
bushland and a palm forest will take you to Burning Palms Beach. There is