Marley & Me…

“Of all the paths you take in life, make sure a few of them are dirt…”

I have to admit, I’m falling in love. Falling in love with the sound of gravel and dirt crunching underfoot, the sun shining on my face and fresh air filling my lungs. With work and uni being particularly crazy lately, I’ve been loving getting out and about on weekend walks. I’ve never been one to enjoy the gym but feel now like I’ve finally found exercise I enjoy, and can feel my body thanking me for it as it gets stronger.

Today I explored another new trail in the Royal National Park, from Bundeena to Little Marley Beach. We took a few little side trips so ended up racking up close to 11kms by the time we returned to the car. We could not have asked for better weather, and given that there was hazard reduction burning only a few kms away there was no smoke lingering the entire morning.

Starting just off Bundeena Drive, the trail is quite open and sandy for the first kilometre or so, before heading into denser bushland.

Soon enough we found ourselves at Deer Pool, the water was the perfect level allowing us to cross without taking our shoes off, and providing a perfect place to rehydrate and snap a photo or two.

We continued through the bushland before turning onto a wide, open gravel track that lead us towards the ocean, with views of Marley Lake.

We soon found ourselves at the Coast track signpost and following a boardwalk past native Australian wildflowers and finally opening up to Little Marley Beach.

Turning onto and seeing part of the Coast Track sparked excitement as I thought of one day completing the two day walk solo, camping out overnight at the ground in Wattamolla. Completing the coast track was the small goal I had set myself to complete once I had compiled some gear and had a few day hikes under my belt. After a splash in the water and a bite to eat, we gathered our things and started to make our way back keeping our eyes peeled for snakes and the large orb spiders that had made webs above the track.

I’ve included some snippets of the track in the video below 🙂 I’m hoping this is the first of many walks in Royal National Park & I can’t wait to share the next one!