Coast Track

[Janice]

Hi there,

Is it possible to do the Coast track in one day? The Era camp site seems to be full for the Easter Break and I am hoping to do it during this break, before it gets cold. My concern is I can only start the track around 9 to 10 am (as i have to take the public transport to get there from sydney ) Will 8 hours be enough? I do not want to be in the situation where I am almost there and the sun is setting. I would say my fitness level is average.

Does it make a high difference if i start my walk from Bundeena or Otford?

Thanks in advance for any advance or info.

[Allchin09]

Welcome to the forum Janice!

The Coast Track is roughly 27km or so from start to finish, but if you are walking for Otford train station to the ferry at Bundeena, more like 30km.
It can be done in a day, and I ran it (walked up the steep hills) in around 4.5 hrs yesterday, but it is a long day walk.

I would expect at worst it could take up to 10 hours to complete, if you are travelling at an average of 3km/h. You should aim to walk faster then that as when you add stops and breaks in, your overall speed decreases. If you start at 9am, you should be able to make it to Bundeena for the last ferry at 7pm.

My personal preference is to start at Otford, as it descends from the start of the track to Burning Palms, making the walk a little easier. From there it is just up and down to Bundeena.

The advantage in your case for walking in the other direction is that if for some reason you take a longer then expected time to complete the walk, you aren't restricted by the 7pm last ferry, the trains run from Otford after 7pm.

Hopefully this helps a little.

[ULWalkingPhil]

What's the earliest train into Otford?

I'm planning on going back in 4 weeks time and this time I'll start from Otford and finnish at Bundeena. The last time I started at Bundeena and finished at Otford. had to wait a couple hours for a train at Otford.

[michael_p]

Hi Janice,

Two guys I know did it in 7.5 hours, but this was with no stops (ate as they walked) and walking at a cracking pace all day. I believe that 10+ hours is closer to the mark for most people who try this.

If you have to rely on public transport then Bundeena to Otford may be the better route. This website: http://bundeenainfo.com/ has the ferry and bus timetables. By the looks of it if you miss the last ferry there are very limited options for getting out of Bundeena (can barely imagine how much a taxi to Loftus or Sutherland would cost). At least finishing in Otford you can get the train back to Sydney.

Hope this is of some help,
Michael.

[ULWalkingPhil]

Worst case scenario, there is a camp ground at Bundeena if you miss the last ferry and a great little fish & chip shop at Bundeena, at least there was when I was there last.

[clarence]

In general I agree with what the others have said. I have done the coast track probably about ten times in a day or less.
It is a long day walk, make sure it is not your first day walk in a long time, and make sure you are fit and prepared, and that you start early (and have headtorches just in case).
Starting at Otford means the first big hill is a descent at the start of the day ( not a climb at the end).
Starting at Bundeena means you don't need to make it a rush to meet the last ferry.
If the NPWS designated camp sites are full on the coast track I would suggest you simply camp off in the bush somewhere near the track (if you really want to do it as an overnighter). There are lots of good natural bush campsites upstream of the creeks betweeh Eagle Rock and the descent to Garie.
Clarence

[colinm]

There are lots of good natural bush campsites upstream of the creeks betweeh Eagle Rock and the descent to Garie.

Curracorang, Curracorrong. Potable water, too.

Colin

[Lindsay]

Looking back at my notebook I did the coast track in 8 hours, including stops. I am of average fitness and found this to be no problem at all. I caught a train from Hornsby at 0405 and was walking by 0700 from Otford. made Bundeena by 1500 and caught the ferry about 1600.

[vieve]

The Coast Track is easily done in 8 hours. Last time I did it we did it comfortably in 7.5hrs, walking from Otford to Bundeena.

If you can do it I would try the Bundeena to Otford route. The issue with doing it from Otford to Bundeena is relying on the ferry from Bundeena to Cronulla. Last time I was there the ferry was cancelled due to bad weather. Luckily for a few other girls finishing the walk, we had left cars at both Bundeena and Otford, so were able to give them a lift back to Otford to pick up their car. Other then us they were hoping to hitchhike out of the park.

Good luck and have fun!

[ninjapuppet]

You can use this timetable to help plan your transport at the Otford end: http://www.cityrail.info/

and use this to plan at the Bundeena Ferry end: http://www.cronullaferries.com.au/bundeena-timetable.html

I regularly take beginners on this walk, and we all usually get it done in 8 hours exactly from ferry terminal to Otford train station. I now always bring extra food and water because beginners always seem to underestimate how much they drink or eat. If you have no injuries, chances are you can also do it in 8 hours with no problems.

When walking it myself, i tend to take 8.5 - 9 hours because i'm a slow walker
Jogging, I usually get it done in 3 hours, but yesterday I took 3.5 hours due to the heat.

I prefer Bundeena to Otford so i'm not squinting so much from the sun in my eyes.

[clarence]

Ninjapuppet, for a "slow walker" you run pretty quick, at least a bit quicker than a what most people would call a jog
Clarence

[ninjapuppet]

yeh, the trick is to maintain a steady pace on the uphills and downhills, rather than slow right down on the uphills and go full sprint on the downhills. That is how people get injured.

I actually walk with a fast cadence too, but tend to take very frequent breaks to enjoy the scenery. I figure that if i'm in too much of a rush to enjoy it, might aswell turn it into a jog.

But just to point out that if you figure out you're running short on time before the last train, by going north to south you have the option of going up that hill to the farm and easily jogging the last 6km on flat ground to otford, rather than complete the whole coast track along the undulating coast.

[puredingo]

There's no problem on getting marooned either way you go. If you miss the last train from Otford you can always walk up to Helensburgh and cab it to Engadine. And if you miss the last ferry out of Bundeena simply walk to the end of the sand spit towards mainabar, swim a short stretch and walk on to Woollaware or Caringbah station.

[Janice]

Thanks everyone for your info and advice. I started off at Otford for an early start at 7.30 and managed to finish at Bundeena in 9hours. I am so glad I did it, the walk was really nice, especially going through difference landscape. Thanks again everyone