Sydney Surrounds - Seaside Villages and Local Culture

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Category: Destination - New South Wales

The NSW Bouddi Peninsula is surrounded by the meeting of five iconic waterways, just a stone’s throw from Sydney’s CBD where pristine sandy beaches and sparkling bays meet the native wilderness of The Bouddi National Park.

The NSW Bouddi Peninsula is part of the Sydney Basin. It extends south from McMasters Beach to Box Head at the entrance to Broken Bay and the Hawkesbury River. Bouddi National Park covers more than half the area.

The remaining area is settlement: McMasters Beach, Killcare, Hardys Bay, Pretty Beach and Wagstaffe.

These iconic seaside villages hark back to simpler times and display a strong sense of local history and community. Expect local fishing boats, pelicans perched on wharves, ducks crossing the road, seaside cafés, art galleries and local craft.

The local landscape creates beauty and awe. The topography of the area is mainly due to water erosion and changes in sea level. During the last ice age, 18,000 to 6,000 years ago, the sea level was 140 metres lower. The coastline was 20 kilometers further east and the Hawkesbury River and Brisbane Waters were dry valleys. With the melting of the ice caps at the end of the Ice Age, the sea level rose. The coastline receded to where it is today and the Hawkesbury River and Brisbane Waters became drowned river valleys. Melting of the remaining ice caps would cause a rise in sea level of 70 metres.

The massive Hawkesbury sandstone dominates the higher levels as platform-like escarpments, where the exposed edges of the formation form vertical cliffs and overhangs.

The Bouddi National Park

Small secluded beaches, fringed by rainforests, sandstone cliffs and coastal heaths blanketed in wildflower colours, make Bouddi National Park one of the most diverse and delightful reserves within the greater Sydney area.

Explore the spectacular Bouddi Coastal Walk, view the remains of the wreck of the PS Maitland at Maitland Bay or simply relax and enjoy the pristine beaches and stunning scenery.

At the heart of the reserve is the Bouddi National Park Marine Extension located between Gerrin Point and Bombi Point. This unique 300ha reserve is one of the earliest Marine Protected Areas in Australia, protecting a diversity of marine habitats and species.

ABORIGINAL HERITAGE

The word Bouddi is the local Aboriginal name for the eastern headland of Maitland Bay and has become synonymous with the national park and the surrounding area. It has various meanings in local Aboriginal languages, and is thought to mean 'a heart' or 'water breaking over rocks'.

A number of Aboriginal place names are still in use today including Bombi Point, Gerrin Point, Kourung Gourong Point and Mourawaring Point.

The Bouddi Peninsula is a special landscape - around 100 Aboriginal sites have been recorded in the park and nearby areas and many more sites are likely to exist. Sites include rock engravings, grinding grooves, rock shelters with art (drawings and paintings), middens and other archeological deposits.

Aboriginal sites provide a valuable insight into Aboriginal traditions, lifestyles and interaction with the environment and are an important part of today's Aboriginal culture.

Blue Mountains - Rugged Natural Diversity

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Category: Destination - New South Wales

The Greater Blue Mountains is an accessible wilderness, covering more than one million hectares of rainforest, canyons, eucalypt forests and heath lands in News South Wales.

This is an area of breathtaking views, rugged tablelands, sheer cliffs, deep valleys and swamps teeming with life. The unique plants and animals that live in this outstanding natural place relate an extraordinary story of Australia's antiquity, its diversity of life and its superlative beauty. This is the story of the evolution of Australia's unique eucalypt vegetation and its associated communities, plants and animals.

The dramatic sandstone cliffs and rugged canyons of the Blue Mountains, combined with the incredible diversity of plant and animal life,  make this spectacular region a “must do” in any Australian itinerary.

The Blue Mountains are one of Australia's natural wonders and the World Heritage area combines eight individual conservation reserves - Yengo, Wollemi, Gardens of Stone, Blue Mountains, Nattai, Kanangra Boyd, Thirlmere Lakes and Jenolan Caves Karst Reserve.

It is a nature lover's paradise with an abundance of colourful bird and animal life, the greatest concentration of eucalypt diversity on the continent, and landscapes ranging from rainforest to heathland.

More than 400 different kinds of animals live within the rugged gorges and tablelands of the Greater Blue Mountains. These include threatened or rare species of conservation significance, such as the spotted-tailed quoll, the koala, the yellow-bellied glider, the long-nosed potoroo, the green and golden bell frog and the Blue Mountains water skink. Flora and fauna of conservation significance and their habitats are a major component of the World Heritage values of the area.

Lord Howe Island - Remote Adventure

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Category: Destination - New South Wales

With sculpted mountain peaks rising dramatically from jewel-toned waters, Lord Howe Island is a place of extraordinary contrasts - often referred to as ‘the last paradise’.

World Heritage listed in 1982 for its unique beauty and diversity, remarkable geology and its rare collection of birds, plants and marine life, Lord Howe is surrounded by the world’s southernmost coral reef. Crystal clear waters teem with marine life and rare coral, protected as part of the Lord Howe Island Marine Park.

Lord Howe island is roughly crescent-shaped, about 11 km long and 2 km wide. It is an eroded remnant of a seven million-year-old shield volcano. The crescent of the island protects a coral reef and lagoon. Mount Lidgbird (777 m) and Mount Gower (875 m) dominate the south end of the island.

Until the construction of the Lord Howe Island Airport in 1974, the only way to reach the island was by sea or by flying boat from Rose Bay in Sydney, landing on the lagoon. Today, the island is serviced by daily flights, but there are only 400 visitors on Lord Howe at any time, together with a resident population of around 350. As such, Lord Howe is an uncrowded island of unspoilt beauty.

With bicycles the best way to get around and no mobile phone reception, it’s easy to fall into the leisurely pace of the island, but there are plenty of activities to choose from, including:
• Strolling through native Kentia palm and Banyan tree forests or along deserted golden sand beaches (there are 11 to choose from).

• Exploring the island by bicycle

• Snorkelling over pristine coral reefs, right off the beach.

* Trekking up Mt Gower, a gruelling but rewarding eight-hour exercise described as one of the best one-day hikes in the world.

• Exploring the reef. At low tide, grab a pair of sandshoes and walk out on the rock platform to see the coral and fish in the rock pools at Middle beach or hand feed fish at Neds Beach.

• Scuba diving. More than 50 sites – teeming with fish, colourful coral and green turtles – attract diving enthusiasts from around the world.

• Bird-watching - the island has some of the world’s best seabird watching, and the birds have little fear of humans.

• Fishing – charter boats take guests out for world-class fishing, where catching kingfish and other fine sport fish is guaranteed.

Lord Howe was never part of a continent and almost half the island's native plants are endemic. One of the best known is the Kentia Palm, the export of which is the island's second biggest industry after tourism.

The island is an important breeding ground for sea and land birds and over 400 species of fish and 80 species of coral are to be found in the waters surrounding the island.

The distinctive Balls Pyramid is a rocky islet located 23 km south of Lord Howe Island, and is also the remnant of an eroded volcano. It is the tallest volcanic stack in the world, one of many stacks that form islets in the area.