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2 days Itinerary

Itinerary: Sydney's cultural heritage

Overview

Discover some of the richest Aboriginal culture in one of the most iconic harbour cities. This itinerary is a great introduction to Sydney’s ancient Aboriginal rock art and rich cultural sites. You don’t have to travel far from the modern city centre to find the story of Sydney’s first inhabitants.

Read more about Itinerary: Sydney's cultural heritage

Learn about the people who fished and foraged along Sydney’s craggy sandstone coastline and around its huge natural harbour. Imagine the rhythms of their lives on heritage walking trails and see their Dreaming myths illustrated in stencils and rock engravings.

Day 1: A timeless tradition

It’s a 30-minute drive from Sydney’s centre to Kamay Botany Bay National Park, where Kurnell Peninsula is famous as the place Captain Cook landed in 1770. Learn about the Aboriginal people who lived here for thousands of years before his arrival on Burrawong walk. It tells of their cultural traditions and how the area’s abundant seafood – oysters, snapper and mullet – brought various groups together. Discover their story in more detail at the Laperouse Museum, and when you’ve worked up an appetite, grab a bite and coffee at Kurnell Visitor Centre.

Family walking near whale bones sculptures on foreshore of Burrawang walk. Photo credit: Natasha Webb © Natasha Webb

Burrawang walk

Take this short, wheelchair-accessible stroll along Burrawang walk in the Kurnell area and enjoy several historic sites. You can't miss the 3 bronze sculptures that mark the 250th anniversary of the encounter between Aboriginal Australians and the HMB Endeavour crew.

Price
Park entry fees apply.
Distance
1.2km loop
Time
15 - 45min
Grade
Grade 3
Where
Kurnell area in Kamay Botany Bay National Park in Sydney and surrounds

Day 2: A thousand years and counting

Drive north over Sydney Harbour Bridge and past Sydney’s northern beaches to Ku-ring-gai Chase National Park. The Basin track and Mackeral track and Aboriginal heritage walk from the Resolute picnic area weave past ancient Aboriginal rock engravings. You’ll see mysterious ‘pecked petroglyphs’ which date back more than a thousand years and depict men and women in various Dreaming stories. Take a walk along Red Hands trail, where you’ll see red ochre stencils, thousands of years old.

Two people walking to Barrenjoey Lighthouse, admiring coastal views over Ku-ring-gai Chase National Park. Photo: David Finnegan/OEH

Ku-ring-gai Chase National Park

Located in Sydney's north, Ku-ring-gai Chase National Park combines important history with scenic beauty, making it perfect for school excursions. Bobbin Head is a great place for a family picnic, and parts of the park are ideal for cycling, fishing and bushwalking.

Fees

Park entry fees apply.

Things to do
56
Places to stay
1
Where
Sydney and surrounds
Length
2 days
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