How to Have The Perfect Weekend in Bundeena
Just over an hour’s drive south of Sydney, this village is a haven of outdoor adventure. But where to start – river, beach or bushland?
Grab a bite at a dance hall
Getting to Bundeena means driving through the Royal National Park and past the small yet charming village of Audley. Allow yourself time to stop for a coffee and something to eat at Audley Dance Hall Café, next to the visitor centre. Here you’ll find large plates of top pub-style fare, from ricotta pancakes with pistachio cream and blueberry compote or eggs with chargrilled sourdough at breakfast, to a warm pumpkin salad, Angus beef burger or fish and chips for lunch. The outdoor tables offer views of the surrounding parkland and bush but be prepared to swat away brazen cockatoos, magpies and kookaburras.
Paddle through wilderness
To navigate the Royal National Park on the water is to see it at its wildest – and most beautiful. Rent a kayak or paddleboard from Bundeena Kayaks then glide along quiet stretches of the Port Hacking River, where native grasses kiss the water’s edge and gnarled eucalyptus branches stretch out overhead (it’s silent save for the twittering of birds). The company runs daily guided tours and operates seven days a week (weather permitting) from the Bonnie Vale picnic area, which borders the sheltered, shallow waters of Simpsons Bay.
Hike to Aboriginal rock carvings
The crescent-shaped Jibbon Beach takes its name from the Dharawal word djeeban, which means “sandbar at low tide”. It marks the start, at the corner of Neil and Loftus streets, of the fivekilometre Jibbon Loop Track, an easy two-hour walk through the national park, encompassing sand, bush and coastal clifftops. You’ll pass a midden used for millennia by the Dharawal people and a clearing where they regularly camped. At about the halfway point, the trail forks – the left path takes you to a nudist beach, while the right one leads to ancient Aboriginal rock carvings that depict figures including a stingray and kangaroos.
Go whale-watching
Seeing a humpback whale breach the waves is a regular occurrence around here during winter. The clifftops along the Jibbon Loop Track are a prime whale-watching spot (you might see minkes or orcas and dolphins). For a closer view of the action, Cronulla Whale Watching takes tours from June to October on its purpose-built 55-foot boat. It leaves from Cronulla Wharf, a 30-minute ride away on the Bundeena ferry, the MV Curranulla. The handsome 1939 timber vessel is an attraction in its own right and a great way to get to Bundeena if you don’t want to drive.
Spend the night in a historic cottage
The scent of dried eucalyptus leaves fills every room of Simpson Cottage. Built in the 1860s, the three-bedroom sandstone house was once the home of the local ferry master. Now, it’s an artfully styled holiday rental where you’ll sleep between European linen bed sheets and wake up to sunlight streaming through curtains and birdsong. With few restaurants and cafés nearby, make use of the barbecue and kitchen before enjoying breakfast in the gazebo, lunch at the wooden picnic table overlooking the bay and dinner by the cast-iron firepit on the patio. If the weather’s fine, you can throw a picnic rug out on the manicured lawn. At the bottom of the garden, there’s a 50-metre track that goes directly to Bonnie Vale Beach, where the water is usually flat, calm and more familyfriendly than Bundeena’s main beach.
