Jibbon Head, the Balconies & Wedding Cake Rock 16-05-2020
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Route: Bundeena, Jibbon Beach, Jibbon engravings, Jibbon Head, Jibbon Loop Track, The Cobblers, The Balconies, Wedding Cake Rock Track, The Waterrun, Wedding Cake Rock, Marley Head, Big Marley Fire Trail, Bundeena
Date: 16/05/2020
From: Bundeena
Parking: Roadside parking in Bundeena
Start Point: Bundeena
Finish Point: Bundeena
Region: Royal National Park
Route length: 8.0 miles (12.9km)
Time taken: 04:30
Average speed: 2.2mph
Ascent: 242m
Descent: 232m
Points of Interest: Jibbon Beach, Jibbon Engravings, The Cobblers, The Balconies, Wedding Cake Rock, Marley
Royal National Park (or 'Nasho' to some) is located just south of Sydney. The 150-square kilometre national park is the oldest in Australia having been founded in 1879. In fact, internationally, only Yellowstone in the US is older, having been founded a few years earlier. While most of Royal National Park consists of open areas of bush, the coastal cliffs are spectacular and make for some fine hiking. Being close to the city means the national park is easily accessible, also.
It takes around an hour to drive to the village of Bundeena, which sits at the very north end of the national park at the entrance to Port Hacking. After parking the car on the street, we made our way to Jibbon Beach to start our hike in earnest. The beach, a superlative stretch of sand, derives its name from the indigenous Dharawal word djeebahn, which means ‘sandbar at low tide'. There is a 3,000-year-old midden (essentially a waste tip) that stretches the entire length of the beach.
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| Jibbon Beach |
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| The Jibbon Beach midden |
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| Jibbon Beach |
At the far end of the beach is a rock shelf with some steps carved into it, cut by European settlers who lived in the bush right up until the 1970s. A path leads through the Banksia trees to a clearing marked by some information boards and steel sculptures. This clearing was an ancient Dharawal campsite - the Aboriginal people who call the area home.
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| Rockpools at the north end of Jibbon Beach |
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| The Dharawal campsite |
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| The Dharawal campsite |
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| Heading along the Jibbon Track |
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| Port Hacking |
Heading back into the bush again, we followed a well-signed path to a large exposed slab of rock, overlooked by a metal viewing platform. Here you will find some well-preserved Aboriginal carvings which are over 1,000 years old. The engravings include depictions of Daringyan the stingray, Biame the Creator and Marloo the kangaroo - all of which have cultural significance.
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| Dharawal engravings area |
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| Dharawal engravings area |
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| Biame the Creator |
As we returned to the Jibbon Head track, we encountered one of Australia's venomous inhabitants - a red-bellied black snake, which had decided to drape itself across the path at the bottom of the steps. They are one of eastern Australia's most commonly encountered snakes and though their venom can cause significant illness, there have been no recorded deaths from its bite.
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| A Red-Bellied Black Snake |
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| The snake takes up residence along the path |
At Jibbon Head there is a panoramic view of Port Hacking from Port Hacking Point. It's hard to believe that this slice of nature is geographically part of Sydney - home to some 5 million people.
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| Little Jibbon Beach |
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| Port Hacking Point |
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| Jibbon Head |
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| Jibbon Head |
A path follows the coast giving intermittent views of the sea through clearings in the bush. Once we reached Shelley Beach, an overgrown path leaves the main Jibbon Head Track, heading for the cliffs. While there is no path to speak of along the cliff tops, the flat rocks of the are easy to follow with interesting views around every corner. While many of the cliffs here are un-named, Cormorant Rock is marked out on some maps though it is difficult to determine exactly what it is.
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| Approaching The Cobblers |
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| The Cobblers |
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| Crossing The Cobblers |
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| The Cobblers |
After a short climb back up from the cove, we reached the top of the Balconies, the beginning of a long stretch of bare cliff top, which has created a series of irregular layers of sandstone that jut out over the Tasman Sea. We followed the top of the Balconies until we reached the busy main track to Wedding Cake Rock.
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| A fence guards Wedding Cake Rock |
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| Wedding Cake Rock |
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| Cliffs at Wedding Cake Rock |
The white colour is caused by iron leaching, which makes the sandstone layers dangerously soft, prone to cracking and at very high risk of collapse. In early 2015, Wedding Cake Rock saw a sudden spike in popularity with visitor number rising sharply from 2,000 per month to over 10,000. Instagram has been cited as the cause for the growth in patronage, with users going to the landmark to take pictures on top of it, often while performing a stunt. The spike in popularity became concerning for the National Park Service - the increase in visitors have the potential to tip it. Subsequently, the site was closed off in May 2015.
After the closure, a geotechnical assessment of the rock was conducted to determine the stability of the landmark. The study found, to the surprise of many, that the formation was not only unstable, but was certain to collapse at any time within the next ten years, with the entire structure being described as "precariously balancing on the edge of the cliff, and severely undercut", seeming to be only upheld by very few pieces of debris from a recent major fracture below the rock. You can see this in the photos below. A large fence now deters visitors from standing on the rock.
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| Wedding Cake Rock precarious position |
Passing Wedding Cake Rock brought us up to Marley Head which has a sweeping view of Marley Beach and the smaller Little Marley Beach - a perfect spot to take a short break for a bite to eat.
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| Big Marley Beach |
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| View from Marley Head |
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| Clouds build over Marley Beach |
We backtracked slightly to find the end of the Big Marley Fire Trail where it emerges from the bush, which leads back towards Bundeena. Fire trails crisscross extensive areas of bush serving as access points for containing and managing bush fires. They are also used as fire control lines and for regular management of bush fire risk.
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| Big Marley Fire Trail |
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| Heading back to Bundeena |
A narrow path leaves the fire trail, leading back towards Bundeena. It arrives in a large, cleared area seemingly called 'Old Bundeena Tip' but I can't find any more information beyond this - it's likely it's just an old rubbish dump. On the other side of the clearing, the path returns to the main Wedding Cake Rock track and the streets of Bundeena.
Great overview of the walk which I've done many times long before Instagram and fences. Just a heads up...the Dharawal People "used to inhabit the area" and STILL DO. They were pushed out of the 'Park' by the white invaders and now can't walk on all their Country due to fences and 'ownership' of land with million dollar houses on it. A simple look at a map of the Park identifies all Aboriginal place names. My partner is a Wodi Wodi man (Dharawal Nation) and is still to this day told he can't walk on Country and access art sites and traditional hunting sites, now supposedly 'owned by the government and labelled Catchment or Park' and ironically needs to get 'permission' to show traditional sites to the young ones to pass on the knowledge. Realistically they should be asking him for permission to be there. White fellas are still trying to control the narrative and the Country. Always was always will be!
ReplyDeleteThank you for your insightful comment. As an outsider (from the UK) and a white man, I do try to be careful about how I describe hikes in Australia, particularly when referring to things like 'discovery' etc. I will try most definately take your words into account
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