Bullawarring and Mooray tracks

I've been wanting to do a bushwalk in the Heathcote National Park for a while now. The Royal National Park just over the road gets all the attention. Today I planned to do the Bullawarring track, visit Yelgun cave and return via the Mooray track.

As soon as I hit the trailhead, it was immediately clear that this was going to be a wet walk. It had been raining quite a bit in Sydney. The stairs had a pool of puddles, yet it was a very sunny day.

This is my first walk in Heathcote National Park, and the bush immediately feels very similar to the Royal National Park. There are heaps of gymea lilies. The trails are similar to the rugged tracks of the Royal National Park.

I'm not even 100 metres into this track, and my shoes are already completely wet. Normally, when it rains, a Bushwalker should stay on the path, and this is what I intend to do. The reasoning is when you walk out of the puddles or mud, you widen the path and create more damaging erosion in the environment. So it's important to stay in the middle of the path when it's raining.

The initial walk down the Bullawarring track follows some steep rocks. There's a nice rock with the footholes cut out in the sandstone, which shows how old the track is.

After a small stroll down the hill, I encounter my first creek crossing, Heathcote Creek. It's got a steady flow, but it's apparent that my shoes are going to get fully submerged. I wade through the creek up to my knees and let my shoes empty after I exit. I recently switched from Goretex-sealed shoes to fully open shoes. I found the water would stay in a Goretex-sealed shoe for the entirety of a walk. Whereas shoes with mesh would let the water exit easily. I apply some insect repellant after seeing a leech and follow a sign to the Kingfisher pool.

The mainly flat track down to Kingfisher Pool Campground is more wet than the other trail. There is a stretch where I'm walking entirely in water for 50 meters.

I reach Bondel Pool, and with all this rain, it doesn't look very inviting. I probably wouldn't swim in it. I reach the Kingfisher pool shortly after, and the waterfalls are in full flow. There's one particular part of the waterfall that looks like they were originally lava tubes that weave around each other and you can see water through the gaps. I've not seen anything like it.

The falls go over a small ledge and disappear underneath a large rock slab and continue into a larger pool area. After having a quick bite to eat, I continue to Kingfisher Pool Campground. There is a small sidetrack that goes down to Yelgun Cave, which follows Kingfisher Creek. I initially walk down this path, and it's clear that this hasn't been walked along for quite some time. The track is very overgrown but pretty easy to follow. I reached what I initially thought was Yelgun Cave, which was a rock overhang that could easily be used for cave camping. I continue along the trail because I want to know what's at the end. I get to the end of the path that is marked on my GPS, and the creek opens up to a sandstone bedrock creek with water flowing down it. It reminds me of the creeks along the America Bays track in Ku-ring-gai Chase National Park. After taking a few photos, I backtrack to the campground. During this, I discover a well-defined trail on the right. As I walked up it, I discovered that this was Yelgun cave.

The cave is not a traditional cave that you could explore with ropes and torches but a small enclosed space underneath a large sandstone shelf. It's quite dark, and I can't see inside.

after looking into the cave a bit, I return to the Kingfisher Pool campground. From here, I continue along the Bullawarring track along Heathcote Creek.

After I cross the creek, I immediately notice the amount of bird life. There are small birds everywhere.

Eventually, the track comes to an absurd amount of trail signs. This is where the trailhead for the Mooray track is.

The Mooray track follows closely to the Mooray Gully up the hill. It's less wet than the other parts of the park. I'm enjoying the Mooray track as it's more rugged than the other tracks, however it's all uphill. The bush surrounding me is the quintessential bush south of Sydney, with Giant Gymea lilies dotted around the landscape. I eventually finish the track and I see a sign exiting the national park with a koala on it, I forget that there are koalas in Heathcote National Park, and I forgot to look for them during my walk. I'll have to revisit this track.