Ku-ring-gai National Park Bush Walking Tour
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HIGHLIGHTS :
– Marvel at Aboriginal cultural sites and artwork
– Enjoy Australian Native Wildlife including wallabies, echidnas, goannas, dolphins and whales (May to Nov)
– View Sydney’s best naturally beautiful Scenery and Photo opportunities
– Visit hard to get to National Parks and secluded beaches
– Learn the history, ecology, geography and beach culture of the region from friendly local guides
– Beautiful “Aboriginal Heritage walk”, where we visit many sacred sites that include ancient shelters, rock engravings and cave art sites.
– West Head lookout with its’ world class view of five waterways that meet below the high cliffs is not to be missed.
– Trek down to some stunning beaches and rock pools on the secluded Pittwater inlet where we can swim and if very lucky see other Australian Native wildlife.
– Visit some secluded waterfalls on the America Bay walk endless views across this amazing National Treasure!
Average Duration: 7 Hours
INCLUSIONS:
Led by a local guide
Small group tour by air conditioned minibus
Hotel Pickup included
Morning tea and cold bottled water
EXCLUDES:
Lunch
Manly Ferry ticket
This Tour requires a minimum of 2 guests to operate.
SUITS
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Highly recommend!
From start to finish this was a good day out, for which we thank James our courteous and careful driver who also kept us informed about the various places we visited. It was nice that this was a private tour with just my wife and I and James as driver in a most comfortable touring car.
The tour packed in a lot of attractions in this scenic part of New South Wales with pick up at 8:30am from our accommodation at the A by Adina and return at around 7pm. We certainly felt we received good value for money. We felt we were afforded ample time at each stop to fully appreciate the attractions on offer.
First stop made 68 kilometres south of Sydney was Bald Hill Lookout in the Stanwell Tops area offering beautiful coastal, escarpment and cliff panoramic views including the zig zag Sea Cliff Bridge in the distance. It was a good time to stretch the legs at this first stop. The Flying High Café was there serving coffee and snacks – however we declined and chose to just sit and admire the incredible views.
Next we travelled along the 665 metre Sea Cliff Bridge as it zigzagged around the coastline like a slivering snake. At the end of the bridge is a parking area where we were able to stop and admire the bridge close up. It construction has been monumental with the following facts gleaned from one of a number of weatherproof information signs installed there for visitors – 60,000 tonnes of rock imported to build the access track at sea level; 11,000 cubic metres of concrete used in the bridge structure; and more than 100 people working on the project. The bridge was built so the piers and bridge deck are well away from the rock fall hazards. It cost $ AUD 49 million to build and was opened on 11 December 2005 with a design life of over 100 years. Indeed an impressive engineering feat.
From the Sea Cliff Bridge it was on to the Kiama Blowholes but not before a short stop at Sharky Beach at Coledale (17km north of Wollongong) – Nothing to write home about and perhaps just a chance for us to stretch the legs. The Kiama Blowhole was a big disappointment. There were several people watching and waiting like us; however it was all in vain as there was not a single powerful, upward spray or plume of seawater as we had expected and anticipated. We later learnt that this situation is not uncommon and it does highlight the unpredictability of “Mother Nature”. Still, we did admire the impressive Kiama Lighthouse nearby. All was not lost, however, in the Blowhole stakes because we had made a stop beforehand to Endeavour Lookout, also in Kiama, and witnessed the far more reliable Little Blowhole (reviewed separately) and she performed a treat and consistently with sprays at times up to 10 metres high. That was an amazing experience and made up for missing out on the main event.
Lunch was had in Kiama (120 km south of Sydney) and we opted for the historic Grand Hotel (established 1891), which was being extensively renovated, and we enjoyed a great meal. I have reviewed this hotel separately. It was pleasing that James chose to eat with us rather than cocoon himself on his lonesome elsewhere, like many tour operators often do. James was surprised when we chose “The Grand” as he had not considered that as an option before – however, like us, he was impressed enough to agree to include this hotel in the lunch options for future tours. We enjoyed a good walk around the streets of this charming beach town after lunch – the historic Post Office building (built 1879) in particular, on coastal Terralong Street, was a standout feature on our walk.
The tour continued after lunch with a lovely drive through the Southern Highlands with a first stop at The Lookout Cambewarra Mountain (28 km west of Gerringong), which commands a magnificent panorama of Shoalhaven City, stretching from Coolangatta Mountain in the north, way down to Pigeon House Mountain just inland from Ulladulla, in the south. There is also an award winning restaurant here (we did not go in) which has operated since 1909 apparently.
On to the famous Robertson Pie Shop (reviewed separately) in Robertson (where my wife and I bought cold pies to heat up for our dinner) before the “jewels in the crown” on this grand tour – Carrington and Fitzroy Falls (both reviewed separately). These are two spectacular waterfalls distinctively different in their own way. Driver James definitely saved the best for last. Carrington Falls are reached from a car park picnic area via an easy walk along a beautifully constructed walkway that loops around the edge of the escarpment, passing several lookouts as well as banksia trees. The sight of the Falls is quite incredible as the water cascades 90m down to the Kangaroo River below. The circuit loop from picnic area back to picnic area is 570 metres. Fitzroy Falls were reached via an easy 150 metre walk to a lookout with good safety rails. From the lookout, we had a perfect view of the top of Fitzroy Falls as it cascades over prominent sandstone cliffs into the gorge below. What sheer majesty! The water descends nearly 100m before it makes its way through Yarrunga Valley toward the Shoalhaven River.
That then is a snapshot of our impressive day tour on our last day of our short Sydney visit.
If you have a day spare in your Sydney travel itinerary and you don’t have your own transport then a day tour of the South Coast and Southern Highlands is a good option. It follows that we would highly recommend your considering Go Beyond Tours to take you there. .
The northern beaches of Sydney are breathtaking, every stop had something unique to offer. Thanks to Mike, we discovered places we never would have found on our own.
This tour gave us a whole new appreciation for Sydney’s stunning coastline. I highly recommend it to anyone visiting the area — it’s truly one of the highlights of our trip.
We decided that our next stop would be good for a lunch break and our driver suggested the Katoomba RSL which is what we did. We probably spent too long there chatting and eating because our next stop was Scenic World. There were three rides there that we had planned to do but because of the queues only managed one which was the Skyway This was a cable car ride across the Jamison Valley. It’s the highest cable car ride in Australia.
Because of the timing and the really long queues, we had to cut our stop short and decided to head back to the airport. Had it been a weekday and no queues we could have achieved a lot more. You always need something to come back for.
Mark dropped us off at the airport at 5:15 and in good time to check in for our flight back to the UK.
This little excursion filled our day perfectly and a big thanks to Michael for organising and to Mark for being a great companion for the day.
Don't mention the cricket!!!!!
The " tour" now began, I firmly belive he made this tour up on the fly. First no water, which was he had to remove his fridge to make room for our luggage. Then we went to some look out spots for views of the bridge and opera house and if we asked a question we received an answer but no addiaonal information along the way. We were mostly driven to some lookout points and told this is a good neighboorhood this one not so much. Just prior to lunch we were asked what time we made our pylon climb for, I stated I did not know what time was scheduled as I did not make arrangements with Michael, I just know we were going there and had to pay on our own. He had to call to verify this with I am sure Michael. We went to lunch, at a nice place I belive it to be the U.S, version of a VFW hall with a view of Bondi Beach, we did not see areas that others are posting of Bondi with the swimming pool etc. We then drove from beach to beach to beach, each time all we heard was, here is another place people surf and got back in the van. If there were walking trails etc, we did not know about them or told we had time to do them. At one stop, James even got back in the car and it was a local, who told us to go up the street where the whales were breaching. We also did a stop at Luna Park, it was not on the tour, but we though the entrance looked cool, so we walked around there for 10 minutes. Then our time to go the the pylons and museum. Again for a local tour guide I would expect more, he could not find it, so stopped at a hotel to ask directions. Once we found the street, he dropped us off where one does the brifge climb, not the museum and pulons, so we had to walk doewn the street until we found the correct entrance, James followed in a van. We did the museum and clim, came back to the van to find James asleep in it. That concluded our day, as stated in title disappointing. James is no tour guide, he is a DJ from what he tells us , but his knowledge is mostly his opinion. Nothing learned in Sydney, and James does nothing for Sydney or for the company.
The guide was a gentleman and very expert about the places we visited.
Absolutely recommendable
Michael even brought coffee, tea, and Tim Tams, as it was a bit rainy and windy that day.
We ended our tour with Michael dropping us off at Coogee Beach, where we did the ocean walk to Bondi (which took a little less than 2 hours). From there, we took one bus back to downtown Sydney, which took about 40 minutes.
I HIGHLY recommend this tour. Michael is so knowledgeable and answered all of our questions.
different lookouts ???????????????????????? Highly recommended ????????????????????????
I have never been on such a bad tour in my life- it was not a tour rather a poor Uber ride. I didn’t complain to him as he had low self esteem, was pleasant and trying but just very simple. We stopped at a green light, went through a red light, swerved lots, listened to private phone calls, heard about other clients of his who said that his tour was the worst they had been on in the world and heard all about his private life. I just wanted to get home safely. My daughter was scared.
We didn’t go to the wildlife park as we wanted to spend more time in the blue mountains. This was not to be and we were back in Sydney 2 hours early. He was better as a Sydney Uber driver! We asked to eat at somewhere more scenic in the blue mountains but this was not possible- there was no choice. We waited whilst he looked up directions to his next lookout.
We would have been far better off on a group tour and actually had a tour rather than a non knowledgeable driver, which would also have been far cheaper.
I discussed this with Mike and gave him plenty of opportunity to get back to me and he has ignored me. It was not the driver’s fault but Mike should never have put him or us in that position.
If you’re coming to Sydney book a tour with Go Beyond Tours 100% recommended
I left it a couple of days, allowing for Mike to reply, but still nothing. I sent another message asking for an update to my enquiry, to which I received an immediate reply telling me, he takes out a minimum of 2 guests, and it was for private tours only!
I would have really appreciated a reply to my original enquiry at the start. I thought it was unprofessional and disappointing, not to mention almost feeling slightly discriminated.
Mike, May I suggest if you have enquiries that don’t suit your narrative, be responsive at the time and be honest. Don’t ghost.
















































