The Heathcote Valley is a great place to escape the hot Sydney summer.
Your first walk with a new walking buddy is such a delicate affair. Friend, significant other or workmate… opportunities abound to be portrayed as a Bear Grylls-style outdoorsman ("Mmmm!! These grubs are so high in protein!!") or a bumbling SES rescue in waiting.
So it was with much excitement that I set off one sunny Sunday morning with my girlfriend Alison to find the best rock pool in Sydney, outside the one that belongs to Neil Perry.
Our destination of choice was Kingfisher Pool via the Bullawarring Track in Heathcote NP. Just across the Pacific Highway from its more fancied cousin the Royal NP, even the choice of destination had a slight hipster-esque “not many people know about this place” vibe that was designed to impress.
The walk takes you from Heathcote Station to Waterfall Station so no car is needed, or you’ve got an easy lift back to your car once the walk is done if you prefer. Setting off from Heathcote and grabbing a quick coffee on the way, my inability to locate the trail head quickly turned me from ‘sophisticated purveyor of good ideas’ to ‘useless city slicker’ in a moment. Once we were on our way down the fire trail, I could attempt to pass off any time wasted as ‘looking for the best Gymea lilies’ and ‘trying to get a shot of the lorikeets’, without much success.
The Heathcote Valley really is quite a pleasure in summer and your first sighting of the trickling Heathcote Creek excites when you think you’ll be cooling off in it in a few hours' time. The Bullawarring Track itself starts just after a causeway and has you climbing back up to walk along a ridge above the valley. Along here it’s all easy walking sandstone scrub.
There’s plenty of native plants flowering and lizards scurrying from our path, while the valley echoes with calls of the whip bird. The one lookout to stop and have a snack at was already occupied by a friendly bushwalking group headed in the opposite direction to finish at the local club. The direction finder solved a discussion about which ridge we have come from and I move slightly towards the Bear Grylls end of the spectrum.
Continuing on, we eventually descended again to the bubbling Heathcote Creek. If you’ve time, there’s a few diversions across the creek here to check out. Simply double back on yourself across the other side of the creek to visit Myuna Pool or follow the Mooray Track about 150m to find a great waterfall; either spot is good for lunch. It’s not too much further along the Bullawarring Track before the main event though, and on a warm day Kingfisher Pool is worth the wait. It has quite a number of small cascades dropping into a larger one with a great swimming hole at the bottom, and there’s also a drop toilet, picnic bench and camping grounds if you feel like staying the night. Sunset around here would be idyllic.
Unfortunately, Alison never got to see it. In an effort to visit everything, I took us along the Mooray Track, a scratchy, uphill battle back to the station, not realising we had to double back to get to Kingfisher Pool. It was the exact opposite of what swimming in a nice waterhole feels like. I’ve learned Alison has a forgiving temperament but I think I might owe her an evening at the other Rockpool.