Cape Solander - Kamay-Botany National Park

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Route: Kurnell Visitor Centre, Burrawang Walk, Captain Cook Memorial, Monument Track, Commemoration Flat, Muru Trail, Cape Solander Drive, Cape Baily Track, Tabbigai Gap, Long Nose Point, Cape Baily Lighthouse, Cape Solander, Yena Track, Kurnell Visitor Centre

Date: 17/07/2022

From: Kurnell

Parking: Kurnell Visitor Centre

Start Point: Kurnell Visitor Centre

Finish Point: Kurnell Visitor Centre

Region: Kamay-Botany National Park

Route length: 12.3km

Average speed: 4.3km/h

Ascent: 228m
Descent: 229m

Points of Interest: Cooks landing point, Cape Solander, Tabbagai Gap, Cape Baily Lighthouse

Kamay Botany Bay is probably our nearest national park with the exception of Sydney Harbour. The park is a mere 9 miles from the centre of Sydney and encompasses both the northern and southern headlands of Botany Bay, an important location in the modern history of Australia. We planned a short hike along the sandstone cliffs of Cape Solander to the Cape Baily lighthouse.

Cape Solander is named after Dr Daniel Solander who formed part of Captain Cook's crew and arrived in Botany Bay on 29 April 1770 - the first landing of HMS Endeavour on the landmass of Australia, after the exploration of New Zealand. Solander collected many plant specimens as part of the first shore party including some that later became type specimens for Australia. These now have significant scientific and research value.

We began our walk from Kurnell Visitor Centre (which was closed due to renovations) and headed north to the Monument Track. Here you will find a memorial to the landing of the Endeavour which changed Australia forever. The approximate position of the Endeavour anchorage is marked by a ball buoy visible from the shore.

Cooks landing place

Cooks landing place

Commemoration Flat

From the Monument Track, we made our way through the bush along the Muru Trail to Yena Picnic Area and along to Cape Solander. The Cape Baily Track starts at the whale-watching lookout, heading south along the cliffs. There are a number of hanging swamps that can be found along the Cape Baily walk. They are home to a number of different plants and animals like reeds and frogs. Hanging swamps are formed on high ground when rainfall seeps out of surrounding hills and accumulates in a slight depression, over time forming a swamp.

Yena Gap

Cape Banks on the opposite side of the entrance to Botany Bay

Cape Solander

Heading south, we eventually reached Tabbigai Gap, a deep incision into the sandstone cliffs (a zawn - common in Cornwall I'm led to believe). Here, from 1920 to 1970, a small community of fishermen built houses directly into the cliffs. While starting out fairly scant, the houses developed to include most modern conveniences. They paid an annual fee to the Lands Department and also paid Council rates for the right to occupy their precarious ledge and were not considered squatters. Despite this, they were ultimately ordered to leave their occupancy on Crown Land in the 1960s.

Cape Solander

Cape Solander

Tabbigai Gap

The Cape Baily Track

Tabbigai Gap

The crumbling cliffs of Long Nose Point

A short distance further, we reached the Cape Baily Lighthouse, perched atop a low hill with a commanding view over the Pacific. The light is fairly modern by Sydney standards and was first considered in 1931 but only constructed in 1950. It is required so northbound shipping can hug the coast and avoid the strong southerly currents further out to sea. While its lantern enclosure was taken from an unknown late-19th-century lighthouse, it is entirely modernised and currently solar-powered.

Long Nose Point

Approaching Cape Baily

Cap Baily Lighthouse

Cape Baily Lighthouse

The city skyline viewed from the lighthouse

Having reached the most southerly point of our walk, we retraced our steps along the Cape Baily Track to return to the picnic area at Yena Gap at the entrance to Botany Bay.

The Cape Baily Track

Cape Solander

Despite missing out on becoming the famed Sydney Harbour, Botany Bay is probably an economically more important area than its illustrious neighbour as it is now home to Sydney Airport and the container port. Immediately adjacent to Kamay Botany Bay National Park are Sydney's desalination plant and oil terminal - neither of which can be seen or heard on our walk.

I say it missed out on becoming Sydney Harbour as, when Arthur Phillip arrived with the First Fleet, he was disappointed at the lack of water on the shores of Botany Bay and was dismayed by the large numbers of Aboriginal people inhabiting the place. Shortly after arriving, Phillip left Botany Bay and sailed for Port Jackson where the first settlement in Australia was made, ultimately becoming Sydney.