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This weekend Grace - @photooftheday - and I decided to go for a scenic weekend drive to visit Wedding Cake Rock. The famous rock is situated along a stretch of coastline south of Sydney in the Royal National Park.

Getting there roughly took around an hour and twenty minutes, with the last half an hour being 30 kilometers of winding roads zigzagging through the natural bush.

Being a very popular place for tourists we were keen to get there before sunset. The goal was to take photos as the light began to produce a golden glow over the ocean with the pure white rock in the foreground.

Parking the car, we walked along a well graded track that took us to the coastal walk. The surrounding bush was filled with Banksia and other native flowers. I could see at least fifty New Holland honeyeaters appearing and disappearing from the bush as they chased small insects.

I had the new medium format Fujifilm GFX 50S with a new lens attached while Grace was using a X-A2 with 16mm to cover some of the wider shots and interesting macro details. Keen to test the new lens I asked Grace to stop in the middle of the path. She looked gorgeous wearing her red beanie!

Around ten minutes into the walk we met the coastal track. The path was made up of a mixture of natural rock and raised pathways. Upon getting to the edge of the cliff I notice a huge splash in the distance. It was a whale!

Since we had left the car, we had noticed a few signs educating walkers about the whale migration. I just felt really lucky to have been able to see one! Pitty I didn’t get a shot of the whale breaching though.

Later on though we did see glimpses of them and in the background of some our photos they did make some appearances, but not clear enough to warrant their own shots

Following on from our sightings we ventured across the rock formations to the path laid out by the National Park Rangers.

Along the walk I couldn’t help take a few shots of people as they stopped to catch their breath and take in the views. Having them in each frame proved to be a perfect way to show just how high the cliffs were. The views were truly breathtaking.

Some of the path was a little bit flooded due to recent heavy rain and natural fresh water run off. Grace thought it would be a perfect time to explore here gymnastic side by leaping into the air clearing the water in a single bound.

Around each corner we experienced different scenes, the next one trumping the last.

We realised if we didn’t hurry up by the time we had got there the light would have all but disappeared, so we pressed on, picking up our pace.

Walking through valleys and along cliff edges we eventually got to our destination - Wedding Cake Rock! What a beautiful site it was! The rock itself was a haven for tourists and their cameras. This couple remotely fired off their camera from their smartphone for the perfect shot.

The rock itself was pure white when compared to the sandstone cliffs surrounding it. We found out later that this was due to iron leaching. It’s name came from it looking like a massive slab of cake sitting on top of the cliffs. It reminds me that Australian’s don’t have much of an imagination when it comes to naming things!

Before we went any further we had to take a selfie!

Grace really wanted some photos on the rock itself so she slowly climbed onto the surface and sat right on its edge. I lined up my camera and took a few photos, framing the ocean in the background.

After looking at the images on the back of the screen, she wasn’t satisfied with the pose. Feeling a little bit braver she asked me to be ready with the camera as she jumped into the air expressing her joy and happiness.

We then decided to then walk around and take a few more shots as we took in the panoramic views.

Considering we didn’t have any lights with us, by the time we finished taking some shots we thought it would be a great idea to start walking back to the car. We had an hours walk ahead of us and we didn’t really want to walk off a cliff in the darkness!

Light wasn’t the only thing we didn’t bring. We totally forgot to bring the water too! You can tell we are seasoned hikers! We stopped by the stream and took a few gulps of the earthy water before proceeding on.

We didn’t make it back to the car in time before the last light faded into darkness. The last colors in the sky were beautiful!

Fortunately for us it was a full moon so we had enough light to show us the way back to the car.

Before heading away from the coast I spotted a yacht sailing away in the moonlight so I framed up my last shot and pressed the shutter.

Wedding Cake Rock was certainly a place I want to head back to. We had such a great time walking, chatting and taking in the sites. If you are a photographer like me then definitely add this walk to your list of things to do if you are in Sydney.

Grace and I are planning another trip to the Royal National Park in around two weeks to visit the Figure 8 pool! Can't wait!

All photos by @myday and @photooftheday

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