Murunna, which includes the whole headland and the rock formation now called Camel Rock, is an important sacred and ceremonial site for First Nations People. When you look to the left of Camel Rock you can see the shape of a womans head. The Yuin people believe the woman warns people to stay away from the water which has a dangerous rip.
After exploring Camel Rock in the afternoon and talking to some locals about the walk out and checking the tides we knew the tide would be going out and close to low tide just before sunrise the next morning which is essential for getting to Horse Head Rock. The climb out along the shoreline is relatively difficult and only possible at low tide. But, there is a path along the headland where you can walk to see Horse Head Rock from above. It takes about 30 minutes and is an approximately 1.5km round trip and is a fairly easy grade walk.
The walk along the headland includes some narrow bushy spots so you need to be on the lookout for snakes. After a few minutes walking you come to a opening in the bush where you can lookout over the top of Camel Rock and at further spots along the way you can see the other rock formations between there and Horse Head Rock.
The time of day we made the climb was not ideal for photos with harsh light and shadows but it was as close as I was going to get to seeing the famous landmark this trip.
After a walk around we decided to look for some sunset locations. We headed to Beauty Point to check out Wallaga Lake. We were trying to find a good vantage point to photograph Gulaga Mountain across the lake as well as possible spots to photograph sunset. Beauty Point is a cute little town with an abundance of wildlife. We even spotted some kangaroos in someones front yard.
We didn’t find any spots that inspired us for sunset so we headed back to Camel Rock.
Sunset
Although the sunset was not spectacular it provided us with some pretty colours and another chance for me to try out my drone. This time I took both photos and video and while the photos were ok I didn’t realise the were not in RAW until I downloaded them. After years of shooting in RAW the lack of dynamic range in a JPG image was very restrictive when editing.
Sunrise
With Sky Candy promising a modest 36% chance of a beautiful sunrise we woke up extra early to get to the beach with plenty of time for Corina to climb out to Horse Head Rock for sunrise. The only other car in the carpark was “tripod man” from the evening before. I stayed near Camel Rock and set up my tripod to try and get some smooshy water photos and catch some colour.
After sunrise when the breeze dropped again I got the drone out for one last fly for our trip. Wind and rain prevented any chance of flying for the remainder of the trip.
Next stop Kiama and Bombo Quarry.
Brilliant blog Liz
Thanks for reading