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As a Russian saying goes “For a mad dog, seven miles is not a long detour”. I can consider myself as such “mad dog” because last weekend I went from Sydney to Byron Bay just to shoot sunrise at the Cape Byron lighthouse.

The Cape Byron lighthouse is located on the Cape Byron, Australia’s the most easterly point of the mainland, near Byron Bay town, in about 750km north from Sydney almost on a border with Queensland. The Cape Byron lighthouse was built in 1901 and for a century alerted passing ships to the dangers of the coast. In 1956 the light became Australia’s most powerful lighthouse. The Byron Bay Lighthouse has become an icon for Byron Bay and is a must for any visitor to Byron Bay.

The sunset was pretty flat – clouds were over the mainland and over the ocean but nothing above Byron Bay and the lighthouse. But the sunrise was quite nice. Storm clouds were right above the lighthouse and soft and warm diffused light pierced through holes in the clouds making everything extremely pleasing to the eye. Quite happy with the outcome (even if I have only one image from the session).

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Last few weeks were quite busy but finally I managed to spare some time for shooting a location I wanted to shoot for the last couple of years – Cape Bailey and a lighthouse there. Cape Bailey is a small sandstone cliff located on the South-Eastern side of Kurnell Peninsula in Botany Bay National Park. Kurnell is considered to be “the birthplace of modern Australia”, as it is the place where Captain James Cook landed on 29 April 1770, when navigating his way around Australia on his ship, the Endeavour.

The Cape Baily Lighthouse was built in 1950 and it is the youngest of the NPWS lighthouses – though its lantern enclosure was taken from an unknown late-19th-century lighthouse. The lighthouse itself is not quite picturesque but it is surrounded by significant Aboriginal sites, sandstone cliffs and gorges, and several important wetland areas.

How to get there:
From the Princess Highway turn to the Port Hacking Road, Sylvania or to The Boulevarde, Gymea depending on the way you are coming from. From the Port Hacking Road turn left to The Boulevarde and then drive straight to the Captain Cook Drive. Drive along the Captain Cook Drive for about 9.5km and turn right to the Sir Joseph Banks Drive right before Caltex Oil Refinery. Drive along the street till the end and park near the gate. The gate opens 6am till 7pm. Then you need to walk for about 2.7km along the road behind the gate till a carpark then to the Potter Point and then to the lighthouse. Allow about 30 or 45 minutes for this walk in the dark. If the gate is open you can drive straight to the carpark but when you are shooting sunrise you definitely have to walk this way.

The Potter Point is a very popular place for portrait sessions among Sydney photographers as it provides nice view to the ocean, Cronulla Beach and sandstone formations.

If you have plenty of time I suggest you to do a coastal loop walk. It’s quite long (about 10km) but the coastal scenery is quite dramatic, as the ocean pounds the sandstone cliffs creating some spectacular formations. Be very careful walking near cliff edge especially at night – there is no fence there.

More about Kurnell on Wikipedia

Maps:
Kurnell-Cronulla Map in PDF
Botany Bay Coastal Walk in PDF
The Cape Bailey Walk in PDF

Custom map of the Cape Bailey coastal walk on Google Maps.

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