Figure 8 Pools

 

Burning palms is at the top of the beach

On Sunday I walked from Garrawarra Farm in the Royal National Park near Otford to the Figure 8 Pools and the shack community at Burning Palms. We went via the squeezeway straight down the escarpment. The track was little more than a pad at times, and I was soon wishing I'd worn long sleeves. I had long pants on, but that didn't stop the thorns sticking through. The Figure 8 pools are naturally formed by the sea rolling boulders around in soft rock. When you step into the one we swam in, the water is over your head before you touch the bottom. After relaxing on the tesselated rock platforms around the pool, we scrambled across the rocks to Burning Palms beach. Burning Palms is one of the shack communities that sprang up along the New South Wales coast during the Great Depression. Most communities are now gone, but there are still four heritage listed communities in the Royal National Park, including Garie Beach. None of them are accessible by road, meaning that all materials have to be carried in.

We had another swim on Burning Palms beach in water that was brisk but refreshing on a hot day. We soon warmed up again as we headed up the hill back to Garrawarra Farm. The whole walk was a pretty easy eight kilometres, and even easier if you skip the bash down the hill, walking to and from Burning Palms via the direct track.