Not far away from Sydney, NSW, in the Royal National Park, one can find a great, slightly hidden spot. The spot is located almost next to a highway, but seems to have mostly been forgotten by the public. The spot used to feature a cafe, but has been abandoned for several years now, and is now mostly visited by people who take the easy way (by car) or the adventurous way up (by walking up a very steep hill for more than an hour). All of those who visit this place are greeted with an amazing view though, which on a clear day is hard to match with anything else out there.
Overlooking Coledale, Austimer and Thirroul, 3 smaller villages between Sydney and Wollongong, Sublime Point gives an impressive view. You can see the ocean, the mountains and the lush greenery in between. An absolutely amazing view which is a rewarding treat to anyone taking the efforts to climb the hill, or, in our case, start our running adventure.
Sublime Point
Sublime Point is a great starting point for our 17.5 KM loop, which brings us up north to Stony Creek. A single track path, which is quite technical at points. Erosion of the path leads to many exposed roots, which combined with the rocks spread around the track, really puts the feet to the test.
New shoes
This time I was running in my new shoes, the Saucony Peregrine 12, Goretex Edition. Coming from Peregrine 10 edition, I assumed the transition would be subtle, but wow, I was blown away. In many previous runs, getting wet feet was just something to accept. Our frequent runs bring us through small streams, mud, puddles, and other water based obstacles. Getting your feet wet was just something to deal with, and something to counter with the right (merino wool) socks. This time however, my feat were armoured with Goretex. Even standing in streams close to 10 CM deep didn’t affect the inside part of the shoes. I’m a convert now, and from now on my bush runs will be done on Goretex shoes!
Sublime Point to Stony Creek
The track itself, as stated before, starts a the Sublime point. It leads into the bush, which is quite flat, quite technical, and well covered by the foliage. It’s an amazing track to run or walk. There are hidden lookouts where, at the right time, one might see a whale or other spectacular animal. After a split, the track continues into more single track trails.W hile it’s advisable to have some form of navigation with you, it’s hard to get lost.
The track is a loop, and while the loop back is most likely less suitable for an adventurous walk. This is due to the lack of nice views and the exposed nature of it. For running this was perfect, and allowed us to run a bit faster than on the single track. An extra bonus was that we met two snakes on the path. Luckily, they were more scared of us than we of them, albeit by a thin margin.
Finishing touches
Close to 3 hours later (again, we’re steady runners, never fast) we finally came back to our starting point. As a bonus, we were witnessing a marriage proposal in the most romantic setting one can image. We wish the young couple lots of luck and fortune on their adventure, and while we drove off to our coffee, we celebrated our somewhat smaller adventure.
