Last Friday, on a hot tip from my friend and neighbour Nic, Pete and I headed to the Cape Solander Lookout at Kamay Botany Bay National Park. It’s an easy one hour drive from home.
At this time of year (June/July), you can watch humpback whales as they pass by on their annual migration, often coming as close as 200 metres to the coast. We saw a dozen or so out to sea – not close enough for photos, but we spotted tail flukes, and backs breaking the surface, and bushy blow sprays. The official whale watchers told us they’d counted 85 by the time we left, which they were very excited about, as nine years ago they were lucky to see one per day. The recovery in humpback whale numbers in recent years has been phenomenal!
If you’re planning to go, make sure you take binoculars, but leave your pooches at home (no domestic pets allowed). Entry (parking) is $8 for the day and make sure you heed the warnings not to get too close to the cliff edge. In addition to the whales, we also spotted fur seals and a wealth of sea birds – gulls, cormorants and the most amazing diving gannets. Watching them fish was a great treat – they sight their prey under the waves while flying, then pierce the water like arrows shot from a crossbow.
But even without the wildlife, Cape Solander is worth visiting for the sheer majesty of its sandstone formations and rock pools. I don’t have whale photos to share with you, but I hope these make up for it…
The rocks are carved and compressed into the most amazing ridges…
Red iron ore, so characteristic of every part of our Australian landscape, colours the sandstone…
Pete and I spent an hour trying to capture the beautifully serene rock pools in photos…
It’s been years since I’ve been to Kurnell (as we still refer to the area), but as a child, my family often spent weekends there, playing in the rock pools and watching the ocean. It was a joy to revisit, and we’re aiming to get there again before the whale migration ends! ♥
Fig Jam and Lime Cordial 
I love tide pools! These are very different than our California ones. So beautiful! Hugs from Maz. <3
That was a wonderful treat to see that.!
Wonderful photos Celia. It is a place I’d heard of but never visited.Thanks you for this post.
Beautiful photos. Thank you for sharing a place I can dream of visiting.
Isn’t the geology fascinating. Lovely photos.
Sounds like a wonderful experience. Nice work with the photos, and lovely to see those epic limestone cliffs.
What a fantastic place to visit – the natural world is so welcome after so much time in lockdown – I really need to get out of the house and see this sort of scenery, with any whales as an added bonus!
Oh Celia, you are so awesome!
These photos just make us appreciate how truly lucky we are to live in this country… xx
the photos !! amazing !
A beautiful area. Lovely to visit a wild natural place through your lens.
Beautiful pictures! The ocean is fascinating. Whale watching sounds like lots of fun.
Gorgeous photos!
That looks like it was a lovely day even without the added excitement of whales. There’s an occasional orca off the Northumberland coast but I don’t think we get the sort of migrations you describe. Our rockpools tend to be full of life though – lovely to plodge in 😁
Thanks Celia. A beautiful place within reach for a weekend visit.
Wonderful photos, perhaps we will make it there someday!