Sydney to Jervis Bay - Part One

'The Southern Express' - Part One (105kms / 20hrs)
I've just completed my most recent long distance trek, Sydney to Jervis Bay.
This is far from a polished video, so if you're expecting a that then I apologise now. It's been a long time since I've captured video for TH-cam, rather than just Instagram, and the night walking + wild weather made filming difficult. But, I'm keen to get back to creating videos, and this was a little foray back into that world.
Anyway! This chunky 217km walk was split into two non-stop parts that traversed Gadigal, Kamaygal, Bidjigal, and Gweagal Country, throughout the Eora & Tharawal Nations.
Starting on a Monday morning, I began by walking through the Sydney CBD and out via Redfern. I veered West to avoid the airport and continued through the urban sprawl until I reached the Cronulla Wharf, where a small ferry would pop me over to Bundeena.
By the time I reached Cronulla, the rain had truly set in.
Once in Bundeena, I began the Royal National Coastal Track in the rain, and in darkness. The track is ~30kms, but given some closures I had to detour - which added on a little extra distance. Also a little extra was the various water crossings, made necessary by the incessant rain Sydney had at the time, which caused all the creeks emptying into the sea to swell.
I exited the Royal National Park wet, cold, and tired, knowing full well that I had another 40kms to go before I reached the end of Part One.
Continuing my route along the coast, I passed through Otford, traversed the Sea Cliff Bridge and began limping my way through the various coastal towns. The limping came from wearing recently new boots for a 100km walk - rookie mistake! I did try to wear them in somewhat, but it clearly was not enough, and the hard boots took their toll.
By the time I dragged my soggy, cold, blistered and pitiful self in to Wollongong, I was the proud owner of several sizable blisters, some pretty decent heel impact pain, and a general sense of 'I'm done'. My wife, knowing me better than myself, suggested that I see how I pull up before calling it a day, and she was right. I bounced back and although sore, I felt like I was ready to attempt Part Two.
Highlights from this leg of the walk include sighting various historic buildings along the route, destroying a Domino's pizza for dinner at Cronulla, learning about some First Nations caves within the Royal National Park 'that could be used for shelter' by a mysterious man, seeing deer, foxes, rabbits, and other critters along the walk, and generally just making it to the end - which was not easy in the circumstances.
Half way done, next up is the 113km walk from Wollongong to Jervis Bay.

[@morgan4130]

Hi Jase! Fascinating to see you’re still doing those (now even longer) long overnight walks! One of these days I gotta finish bondi to manly, but the familiar struggles you shared at the end of this video has me wondering otherwise haha.

[@Jaseinthewild]

@@morgan4130 haha, those long hike pains! Yeah, this one was unexpectedly brutal. The second portion was equally rough, yet in different shoes it was miles better - the right shoes can certainly make or break! I'm thinking of another Bondi to Manly soon, you should come along!

[@morgan4130]

@@Jaseinthewild Sage advice. If it happened in Nov, i'd sign up!