December 23, 2015
Wedding Cake Rock, NSW
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| Wedding Cake Rock |
One of the most famous places in Sydney is the Wedding Cake Rock. As the name states, it's a rock formation (limestone) that resembles a slice of wedding cake. If you view it at a certain angle, it really is a wedding cake! You just can't imagine how it formed this way.
We initially planned this as Bundeena to Marley Beach walk. But since we lack the time and under scorching heat, we decided to go back after seeing Wedding Cake Rock. From the parking of Beachcromber avenue to Wedding Cake rock will take you 1.5 hours. If you go further towards Marley beach, that will stretch to 3 hours return walk.
Map Location
Wedding Cake Rock can be accessed by initially driving towards Bundeena. You need to enter the Royal National Park, which is south of Sydney.
(you may need to navigate the map above to find Bundeena & Wedding Cake Rock)
It will take you a few minutes driving towards Bundeena upon entering Royal National Park. Once you're at the park, just head towards Beachcomber Avenue. At the very end, there are limited spaces for parking. Thus it's also important to plan this trip. After our walk, we saw several cars waiting for parking.
Note: Visiting Bundeena requires you to pay a visitor's fee. Good thing that Bundeena Service Station is a gas station with mini mart. You pay at the mini mart and do some last minute shopping (energy bar, power drinks, sunscreen) before you actually do the walk.
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| Bundeena Service Station |
What to Bring
This is a coastal walk surrounded by small bushes. Thus, the sun will be smiling directly at you. Energy drinks aren't necessary since it's just a short walk, but is likely recommended. The Service Station is also a convenience store that you can purchase drinks to. Below are what I recommend to bring and prepare (I also brought those with me):
- Hat
- Sunscreen
- Energy Drink
- Energy Bar *
- Comfortable shoes
- Camera
- Drone *
Wedding Cake Rock
From the parking at Beachcomber Avenue towards Wedding Cake Rock will take about 1.5-2 hours of walk (depending on your pacing & selfies). This isn't a hard walk. Most of the route is just flat surface with well defined path. We took this walk during sunny days, so the path is dry and a bit dusty. If it's hard to reference my map above, below is the actual map found during the walk:
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| The Balconies Map |
On this trip, we managed to visit the following points of interest:
- The Balconies
- The Waterrun
- Wedding Cake Rock
This coastal walk only has small bushes. Thus you need to provide yourself shade if you don't like the sun directly shining in your face. Bring a hat and sunscreen. But the good thing about it is that you can easily see the people in front of you. You can also see the blue sea from afar.
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| The Balconies Map & Small Bushes |
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| Towards the Balconies |
The Balconies is the first vantage point you'll encounter. It has amazing views of the coast. This area is flat, so it's easy to walk around. The rocks are rough and you won't slip your footing. This will take you about 15 minutes of walking. If you want a more relax and safe area to view the coast, then this is it.
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| View at The Balconies |
The next walk towards Waterrun is also simple and easy. It's flat without steep elevations. Again, small bushes will block your path, as well as the sun. This will take you about 10 minutes of walking. By this time, you will feel the heat of the sun if it's a sunny day. But for those who are used to walking, it's nothing.
You'll see the coast at your left when walking from The Balconies to The Waterrun. There is a bridge and walkway that you'll pass as you walk along.
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| Metal Path Towards The Waterrun |
The Waterrun is more daring compared to The Balconies. It has ledges, if you slip or collapse, will land you directly at the reefs. Compared to The Balconies, it has more elevation. It's pretty scary if you stepped on them.
For me, The Waterrun has better views than The Balconies. But more care should be taken exploring this area. It has more steep areas and rough rocks. The ledges looked good in photograph but very hard (and scary) to walk into. Take a look at the photo below:
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| The Waterrun Cliffs |
Once you're done with The Waterrun, the next stop is Wedding Cake Rock. This is where the challenge came in as you need to walk down the cliff to walk across a creek and climb up again to the next cliff. I'm sure that this is more than a 45 degree steep descend. Just more in slowly and everything is alright. You'll do this twice since you need to walk the same path if you go back to the parking lot.
With a hot weather, it's a challenge walking back up the cliff again. But it's nothing dramatic. Just rest and stay hydrated and all is fine.
Unfortunately for late goers, Wedding Cake Rock is now declared 'unstable' and would collapse anytime. Tourist & locals alike are advised to stay away from it. Once you arrive at the area, you'll notice the metal fences that prevents visitors from going into the actual Wedding Cake Rock itself. It's really a shame not to walk into the rock itself but we retrained ourselves from standing into it. Though we found several visitors actually going into the rock still. But an advise is an advise and it's hard to neglect this kind of warning.
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| Wedding Cake Rock Warning Sign |
As the warning signed mentioned, the rock itself is unstable and could collapse anytime. Photography is welcome as long as it's behind the fence. Triple Zero (000) is also mentioned if there is an emergency.
The fences are there, though it's not enough to really stop visitors from walking past through it. The warning signs aren't enough to stop any visitor from ever walking to the Wedding Cake Rock itself. But the important thing is that the fence and the warning sign is there.
Anyway, I didn't dare to defy this warning sign. I have my drone with me so I don't need to physically walk past the fences to see the Wedding Cake Rock. I have a better angle / view from where my drone flew and it was magnificent. To see of what my drone saw, please click the video below:
More photos of the trek from Bundeena to Wedding Cake Rock.