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Sydney Nimble Tours, Mosman (2026)

21/04/2026

Processionary caterpillars marching to food at Bombo. nimble

07/03/2026

Sydney founded on Sandstone

Sandstone is a sedimentary rock that dominates Sydney.

In fact, sandstone forms more than half of the Sydney Basin’s sedimentary sequence and was the building material of choice for Sydney’s grand older buildings.

Look no further than the QVB Building, Sydney Town Hall, the Quadrangle at Sydney University and St Mary’s Cathedral to see how Sydney’s early architectural soul is bonded to sandstone.

You can’t help but see it if you visit a Sydney beach or a national park in Sydney and its surrounds.

The varied white, grey, tan, orange, yellow and red colours in this rock are striking and the shapes it forms can be exceptional.

The Royal Coastal Track in the Royal National Park, south of Sydney, provides some great opportunities to observe sandstone whether it be in the cliffs, headlands, rock platforms or random boulders.

The magnificent valleys in the Blue Mountains World Heritage Area are the result of uplift and erosion of sandstone.

Sydney Nimble Tours showcases remarkable sandstone formations in our Sydney private day tours to the Royal National Park and Blue Mountains - giving visitors a deeper appreciation of the geology that shaped Sydney and surrounds.

Formation

Sandstone is generally formed over long periods of time (thousands and millions of years) when grains of sand are compacted.

Common sand grains include quartz, feldspar and lithic fragments (fragments of other rocks that have been broken down over time).

A compaction process occurs due to the weight of layers of water and overlaying sediment.

The compaction is followed by cementation, a process that most commonly occurs when mineral rich groundwater seeps through the sand grains.

The minerals (examples include silica, calcite, iron oxides and clay minerals) act as a glue binding the sand grains together.

Sydney’s sandstone was formed in the early to mid Triassic Period (estimated to be between 235 to 251 million years ago) when the land on which Sydney and surrounds exists was part of the supercontinent, Gondwana.

Types of sandstone in and around Sydney

The predominant sandstone in Sydney and surrounds is Hawkesbury Sandstone. It is a quartz rich sandstone that forms much of the bedrock for Sydney.

An older sequence of sandstone is the Narrabeen Group which lies beneath the Hawkesbury sandstone. It can be seen at the northern beaches, Blue Mountains and Otford.

Shapes

Vertical stress and erosion are key factors in sculpting sandstone into dramatic features such as arches and pillars.

Shapes may be seen in sandstone if you have a creative imagination.

Pareidolia is a phenomenon in which humans perceive faces, animals or objects when looking at things such as rock formations or clouds.

Wedding Cake, Eagle Rock and Boars Head (Megalong Valley, Blue Mountains) are outstanding examples.

Experiencing Sydney sandstone

One of the best places to experience sandstone formations is the Royal National Park.

Both Eagle Rock and Wedding Cake Rock can be seen by hiking on the Royal Coastal Track.

Earthy sandstone colours can be seen in the Blue Mountains when viewing the Jamison, Megalong and Grose Valleys.

Extraordinary sandstone cave formations can also be found in Blue Mountains.

A few of our favourite sandstone caves include the cave underneath Lincoln Rock, the Fortress Ridge track cave and the wind eroded cave near the Grose Valley.

We hope you enjoy the photos of sandstone below as much as we do.

12/02/2026

Spiral grain on a tree trunk is rare. A Sydney Red Gum with such a pattern lives in the Royal National Park. National Park Tour

14/10/2025

Spring in the Royal National Park

We are now half way through Spring in the Royal National Park and visitors have been rewarded with some wonderful native flowers.

It is at this time of year that ordinarily non descript plants come alive with exceptional flowers. Until this point of time you may not be that interested in identifying a plant. A striking flower changes everything.

The Gymea Lily, a native to Sydney and surrounds can be counted on to perform. Its bright red flowers are on display all over the park. If you miss seeing this plant you are not looking very hard!

Whilst on the colour red some wonderful waratahs may be spotted by carefully scrutinising the bush whilst driving through the park. We noticed some fine examples on the road to the parking area for figure 8 pools.

The Sydney Boronia (Showy Boronia) was blooming in patches whilst the thin and thick leaved drumsticks could be seen on the side of the road.

Many plants in the Royal National Park belong to the Fabaceae family and some of these are stunning.

The handsome bush-pea was seen extensively on the road between Flat Rock Creek to Wattamolla. A bright and colourful flower yellow flower with a dash of red.

The parrot-pea has an intense yellow flower and was also frequently spotted.

These two plants are legumes and take nitrogen from the air and convert it with the help of bacteria into ammonia. This occurs in nodules in the plants root system. When the plant dies and decomposes the soil is enriched by nitrogen that is returned to the soil.

The Golden Wattle, Australia’s floral emblem, is also a legume.

Further into the rainforest area of the park the yellow flower of the cabbage tree was on display.

25/09/2025

Garie Beach is back!

Road re-opens today

Whilst undertaking a Royal National Park tour today Sydney Nimble dropped by the road barrier preventing access to Garie Beach.

We were delighted to be informed that the barrier would be removed in the next few hours and to come back after lunch.

Upon returning the barrier was gone and we headed down to Garie Beach. It has been a long time between visits.

The road to Garie Beach was closed in 2022 due to floodwaters causing a section of the road to collapse.

Whilst driving to the beach we noticed the major area of repair which involved moving a section of the road into the hill and driving over 100 15-metre long concrete piles into the side of road for a distance exceeding 150 metres.

That’s a lot of support!

Upon arriving at the beach and walking south from the car park it was noticed that some new sandstone stairs had been built and the former track above the rocks on the beach is no longer in use.

In fact it doesn’t exist!

If you are hiking south along the Royal Coastal Track, which runs from Bundeena to Otford, just take the stairs near the Garie Surf Life Saving Club and ascend.

A photo of the new stairs is shown below.

I was advised by Royal National Park staff that a lookout has also been constructed on the new walkway.

Things are happening in the Royal National Park!

And being the opening day there were no fisher people or surfers.

That won’t last long!

14/09/2025

Hanging Rock

Hanging Rock is a block of rock located in the Grose Valley of the Blue Mountains National Park.

Is a large sandstone formation that appears to hang off the side of a cliff.

Getting to it

If you are driving from Sydney go past Blackheath and hang a right off the Great Western Highway onto Ridgewell Rd.

Once on Ridgewell Rd it is only a short drive to the Hanging Rock car park.

Alternatively put your mountain bike on the train from Sydney and cycle from Blackheath Station.

If you are walking from the car park a solid trek along a fire trail awaits you. It took our group around 2hrs 30 minutes to do the return walk (10kms).

At the end of your trek or bike ride you will make your way upwards via a track and stairs to Baltzer lookout.

Allow maybe 20-30 minutes or more to suck up the moment at Hanging Rock and Balzter Lookout, so a reasonable time allocation is 3 hours.

Enjoy the view!

From the Baltzer lookout you will see Hanging Rock and the steep walk down takes only a few minutes.

And remember you are only few metres from a dramatic unfenced drop to the valley below.

Arrival

Once nearing Hanging Rock you will have sandstone walls on either side as you look at the distant Grose Valley and a nearby cliff face (see 2nd photograph).

When you are close to the rock its detachment is apparent as a three feet jump is required to reach it.

The rock itself is at an angle (maybe 60 to 80 degrees) to the cliff face and as a consequence it protrudes into the Grose Valley.

The protrusion is greatest at the top of the rock as hanging rock tapers in as you look down it.

How was it created

Two books on the Blue Mountains have identified* the event which brought about Hanging Rock, namely a landslide in the late 1930s.

The landslide is likely to have been preceded by a long period of weathering and erosion of joints in the sandstone plateau and underlying claystone. When claystone is no longer strong enough to support the sandstone above a collapse occurs.

Its all about the photo

Whilst at Hanging Rock several visitors hopped onto the rock and made their way to the end point of the rock.

At the pointy end of Hanging Rock is a rock that is one metre or more in length that has broken away from the rock before it.

Another little feature to add to the edginess of a photo!

Just watching the ‘no fear brigade’ is suspenseful in itself as the drop from Hanging Rock to the Grose Valley can only be described as formidable, at least 120 plus metres (maybe more).

I would not want to be on that rock on a windy day!

We enjoyed our visit to Hanging Rock but only consider it if you are comfortable with heights.

*page 153 of The Blue Mountains, Exploring landscapes shaped by the underlying rocks, uplift and erosion, Peter Hatherly & Ian Brown; page 708 Blue Mountains Geographical Encyclopaedia, Brian Fox, Michael Keats OAM and John Fox, Released: February 2018, Updated: July 2023

08/09/2025

THE Imperial Clifton

Background

The Imperial Clifton is a hotel located on the coast south of Sydney. It is only a few hundred metres from Sea Cliff Bridge.

Originally the site was occupied by a small timber framed pub built for local miners in 1884.

After being bought by the Resch’s Brewery it was demolished and replaced by the existing building in 1911.

Lets move forward 80 years to the closure of the local coal mine in 1991. Not a good outcome for a nearby pub!

Things went from bad to worse when the main road on which The Imperial is located closed in 2003 due to persistent rockfalls, particularly after rain.

And guess what, the Imperial Clifton also closed in 2003.

The building was boarded up and fell into a state of disrepair until 2015 when a local club, the Shellharbour Workers Club, bought the pub.

The white knight comes riding to the rescue!

Renovation and extension

Due to vandalism and general decay a renovation of substance was required and the rear of the building was extended.

The renovation and extension have been sympathetically done to maintain and blend with the heritage features of the hotel.

When you drive towards the hotel from the south it is hard not to be impressed by the building’s grand stature.

The Imperial Clifton re-opened for business in 2020.

What’s in there

The Imperial Clifton does not offer any accommodation.

The bottom level (basement) can be accessed from the car park and is used for utilities (fireplace wood storage, bathroom, staff area).

Before entering the basement level from the car park consider having a look at the splendid views of the ocean from the small beer garden at the rear of the hotel.

The next level (ground level) is at street level due to the block sloping downwards towards the ocean.

To reach this level take the stairs or catch a lift up from the basement and observe historical newspaper articles covering the lift walls.

Alternatively ascend via the stairs and see a hand painted wall mural based on a 1961 photo of former staff and licensee of the hotel.

The ground floor has a public bar at the front, several small rooms, a large restaurant area facing the ocean, a commercial kitchen and a long bar on the south side of the building.

There are many features inside the Imperial that warrant mention:

- Some of the interior brick walls have had mortar removed leaving exposed brick which gives the interior a rustic feel;

- Large light fittings sourced from lighthouses greet visitors in the main foyer;

- First class joinery is evident throughout particularly if you look at the door and window frames and flooring;

- Several original fireplaces have been restored and a wood fire is lit in colder months;

- The mottled cream and orange wall tiles in the front bar have been matched with the original tiles;

- The dark timber floor throughout the hotel is reclaimed timber hardwood oiled with hardwax, creating an authentic feel for an early 1900s building;

- The front verandah has been rebuilt to look like the original balcony at the time the hotel was built;

- Two large gold leafed mirrors are placed either side of the front door, with one of the mirrors containing a short history;

- The internal walls have before and after renovation photos of the building whilst a television runs in the public bar outlining the building’s transformation.

The top level (level 1) of The Imperial is reserved for larger gatherings (weddings, events and corporate activities) and is similar in design and layout to the ground floor.

The Parlour

Across the hall from the front bar is a room known as The Parlour. It is a reminder of what was the norm in past decades.

Women in Australia were not allowed to drink with men in the public bars of hotels until the 1970s.

The Parlour or Ladies Lounge was a room where women at The Imperial Clifton could partake of alcoholic drinks prior to the relaxation of these laws.

The Parlour did not have its own bar but provided drinks to women through a server with a special hatch!

Our view

A great deal of thought and effort went into renovating and modernizing this building whilst maintaining its heritage features.

The Imperial Clifton is a lovely building and the high ceilings, views from rear, airiness and the adaptive reuse of materials is a pleasure to see and enjoy.

Indulge yourself in a cappuccino or piccolo, a cold beverage or a meal whilst admiring the pizzazz of a cleverly re-birthed historic building.

17/06/2025

Surf and Safari at Arugam Bay

Intro

Sydney Nimble Tours supports employees traveling overseas, believing it broadens their perspective on travel and touring.

This year’s annual staff trip was to Arugam Bay and surrounds, located on the South East Coast of Sri Lanka.

It takes between six to seven hours to drive to Arugam Bay from the main entry point to Sri Lanka, Colombo.

Surfing

Arugam Bay becomes a surfing mecca when the swells arrive from May to September.

We stayed in this area for 12 days in early June and found the main break lived up to all the hype being a classic fast peeling right with several sections. The downside is that everyone else knows this and it is an intensively competitive environment for catching a wave.

There are plenty of other breaks in the area including Lighthouse Beach, Peanuts, Elephant Rock, Pottuvil and Panama Beach.

The two breaks we liked the most were Elephant rock (on a large swell day) and Peanuts outer break as opposed to the break near the beach. Bare in mind Peanuts is exposed to the wind and best ridden when the swell is a reasonable size.

Panama Street

Panama Street is the main road into and out of Arugam Bay. The shopping strip located on this road, just behind the beach, is a concoction of restaurants, bars, clothes shops, board shops, ice cream outlets, small general stores and coffee shops.

It is a vibrant strip with varied food offerings and travelers from all over the world can be seen enjoying them.

The road itself has plenty of activity with tuk tuks, push bikes, motor bikes, cars and even the odd cow making their way along it.

For non-surfers a few days at Arugam Bay is probably sufficient, whilst surfers can easily spend a week or two weeks in this area.

Kumana National Park

The other activity we enjoyed was driving in a jeep around the Kumana National Park which is an hours drive from Arugan Bay.

Kumana is easily booked with a number of shops offering tours. It is described as an eco tourism attraction and bird sanctuary.

The park has a broad range of animals and we had the good luck of coming across a leopard only a handful of metres from our vehicle.

The leopard didn’t stay long but it was still a thrill to encounter a large cat!

The bird life in Kumana which includes wetlands areas was plentiful and highly interesting.

Some of the more outstanding feathered friends that we encountered included: Malabar Pied Hornbill, Crested Serpent Eagle, Painted Stork, Little Green Bee Eater and the Red Wattled Lapwing.

The Malabar Pied Hornbill is an exotic bird with a most unusual beak, whilst the Crested Serpent Eagle was spotted low on the trunk of a tree waiting for a chance to greet and eat new and interesting local snakes.

Crocodiles, elephants, lace monitors, mongoose, water buffalo, were all spotted throughout the day although the sloth bear did not appear. We were advised that the bear is more likely to be seen in the morning.

Environment

The weather we experienced whilst in Arugam Bay in June can only be described as intensely hot from mid morning to late afternoon. June is one of the hottest driest months whilst the area gets most of its rain from October to February.

Arugam Bay along with the areas further south have a desert feel and heat to match with a lot of sand dunes and sandy soil.

The ocean water is amazingly warm (late 20’s celcius) and after surfing in the morning you come out of the water with a solid thirst.

We had a refreshing and fun stay in Arugam Bay and recommend it be included as part of any trip to Sri Lanka in the dry season.

Favourite restaurants: Dosa Station, Gecko, Hopper Man, Bambini’s Café, Wayside Thai and the Bay Vista Hotel restaurant for tasty pasta and a delicious ginger lime cheesecake.

Favourite coffee shop: Kaffi

Best decision: using Deyo Tours to get around; we spent 16 days with Chaminda whose service and commitment exceeded all expectations

Best clothing: Slow days shop and the caravan T shirt at the Squeeze Me cafe

Let downs: Sri Lanka needs a wider range of beers!

16/03/2025

Background

Sea Cliff Bridge is located on the coast of New South Wales, south of Sydney, between the small coastal towns of Coalcliff and Clifton.

It forms part of Lawrence Hargrave Drive, a road that extends from Helensburgh to Thirroul.

Longstanding rock fall problems had been experienced on Lawrence Hargrave Rd between Coalcliff and Clifton due to the road at that time being positioned right next to the cliff and in 2002 the problem became acute resulting in the road being permanently closed.

The rock debris was dropping from the steep cliff hovering above the cliff hugging road, particularly after rain.

A bridge that would be located some distance from the cliff was seen to be the answer to the problem of rockfalls.

Although the NSW Government initially had some reservations about building a bridge to replace the existing road in view of the cost, environmental concerns and geotechnical issues, it was decided to go ahead.

Construction began at the start of 2004 and the bridge was completed in December 2005.

Some parts of the former road can still be seen if you visit Sea Cliff Bridge particularly at the south end.

A rusted cream guard rail shows where the cliff hugging road was located. Part of the underpinning sandstone wall supporting the old road has collapsed and bushes have overgrown other parts of the former road.

New bridge(s)

Two bridges were in fact necessary to remedy the situation. Sea Cliff Bridge is up to 70 metres from the cliff in places and provides for plenty of room should a rockslide from the cliff eventuate.

It is easy to miss the first bridge, Lawrence Hargrave Bridge, as you drive south past Coalcliff. In fact you may not even think you are driving on a bridge, but rather a new piece of road.

Lawrence Hargrave Bridge measures 210 metres and was incrementally launched.

Incrementally launched bridges are built in segments in a casting bed. The segment is pushed out of the casting bed across the obstacle to be crossed. The casting bed may then be used to make another segment.

The bridge is made from one side only. They are commonly used where there are access problems or to minimize disruption at ground level and the spans generally do not exceed 60 metres.

The second bridge, Sea Cliff Bridge, is a balanced cantilevered bridge and 450 metres long.

This type of bridge is more suitable for longer spans and will typically consists of two cantilever arms that extend in opposite directions from a single support.

Why visit

The design, engineering and aesthetics of Sea Cliff Bridge are what make it so attractive.

When you first see it in the distance you are drawn to have a second look at a roadway suspended above the ocean that curves with the contours of the surrounding cliffs.

The curves and flow of the bridge gracefully fit in with the rugged surrounding environment. Both bridges, Lawrence Hargrave and Sea Cliff Bridge were built in difficult environments.

The challenging environment consisted of sea on one side, steep cliffs on the other, underlying coal seams and very little available land.

The construction of both bridges in such a situation is a fine engineering achievement.

If you visit don’t just drive over the bridge, park just beyond where the bridge finishes in the south, and take a walk.

It is a pleasure to walk along the bridge and enjoy the views of the ocean, the nearby dramatic cliff and the several large rock platforms that can be seen below.

Put this one on your list!

Be Imperial

And if your in the mood for a little more try The Imperial at Clifton for a coffee, cold drink or something to eat. This hotel has been sympathetically renovated maintaining its historical features, has lots of natural light and broad ocean views.

It is only a few hundred metres down the road heading south.

10/11/2024

Bluebottle

In recent weeks beaches around Sydney have been inundated with bluebottles. You will see them either on the sand or in the water.

So what is a bluebottle?

A good place to start in defining a blue bottle is to say what it is not. Although related the bluebottle is not a jellyfish. It is known as a siphonophore.

The most common bluebottle found in the waters around Sydney is Physalia utriculus.

The discussion becomes more interesting when you realise that the bluebottle is not one animal but a grouping of four different colonies of polyps. The word collective comes to mind.

The colonies rely on each other to survive.

One of the colonies is the gas filled sac that floats on the surface of the water. You may see a grouping of bluebottles on the sand as they are often left stranded on the beach waiting for the tide to rise and take them back into the ocean.

The three other colonies in the collective are ones for catching prey by stinging it, one for digesting the prey and of course a colony for the continuation of the species, reproduction.

The bluebottle does not mate but instead reproduces asexually.

Bluebottles are carnivorous feeding on larval fish, small crustaceans and molluscs (snails and clams).

These creatures come to their earthly end when the bluebottle zaps them with venom located in the long tentacles that trail the sac, resulting in the creature being paralysed. The prey is then drawn to the mouth of the bluebottle by the tentacles and consumed.

In Spring and Summer strong winds are responsible for bringing bluebottles to Australian shores. In the other months of the year they exist offshore.

The bluebottles that appear in Australia are sometimes called Pacific Man o’ War. They are less venomous than the Portuguese Man o’ War which is found in the Atlantic.

The name Portuguese man o’ war originates from the resemblance of this siphonophore to 18th-century Portuguese warships when those warships were at full sail.

There you have it a floating warship that can declare war on you whilst swimming or surfing at the beach.

Sydney Nimble Tours

21/04/2026

07/03/2026

12/02/2026

14/10/2025

25/09/2025

14/09/2025

08/09/2025

17/06/2025

16/03/2025

10/11/2024

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