Hike From Kiama to Gerringong – Choose A Path Less Traveled

We really enjoyed our long weekend in Kiama for ANZAC day, and the major standout was our incredible hike from Kiama to Gerringong. We knew that it would be beautiful, as we have yet to find a stretch of the NSW coast that is not, but we had no idea it would be so captivating. Unlike many of of the other hikes, It is not well travelled, with plenty of water and bathrooms. It has neither of those, but it does have seemingly endless rolling green hills, with a hypnotic effect that could keep me walking for days. A word of caution, we expected very little from this hike, and it may be why it blew us away!

Other Kiama adventures:

Day trip to Kiama

Best toddler-friendly restaurants in Kiama

Our itinerary for the long weekend centered around the Kiama Coastal hike. The potential for rain kept our hopes for a day long hike at bay, and we planned to use the car to drop into various sections, if the weather turned against us. Thankfully, we woke up on Sunday morning to glorious, blue skies, and I am so glad we ended up completing the entire southern stretch of the walk. This section is fairly new, as far as NSW coastal walks go, and it felt like we had the whole world to ourselves for much of the walk.

The hike from Kiama to Gerringong is actually the second half of the full Kiama Coastal hike, which starts at Minnamurra. We started at the midpoint, with breakfast at the Milk & Honey Cafe, which is right next to the lighthouse and the blowhole.

The hike starts out looking similar to many of the coastal walks: cliffs, beaches, and lifesaving clubs, but there are a few pieces that let you know it will be just a little different. First, it’s the empty beaches with decent surf. That is quite the anomaly amidst the surf culture in the Sydney area.

With our passion for photography reignited after Sanctuary Point,we took a leisurely pace so we could enjoy photographing the beautiful walk. There were surfers, waves, and beaches galore at the start of the beginning of the hike.

When arrived at Kendalls Beach, there was a huge rock formation in the middle. We immediately scrambled up it, hoping for a great family photo. We made an attempt, but we were unable to stand up the tripod far enough away to get a decent shot. Fortunately we got decent shot of EZ.

We enjoyed experiencing a bit of the Australian neighborhood feel during the walk. There is actually one spot where you must follow signs between two houses, which reminded me of the cut-throughs we used in my neighborhood as a child. Distracted by the amazing views, we missed the sign, and had a little side adventure.
You can see how easy it might be to find yourself a little distracted. We focused so much on the “coastal” part of the walk that we missed the sign, and continued trekking along the rocky coast. We took in the amazing view below, after climbing down a stretch of perilously muddy trail. After our successful descent, we realized that the trail we faithfully followed belonged either to rather adventurous spirits or other similarly distracted tourists, like ourselves.

While the option to free-climb and wade through crashing water of unknown depths existed, we lacked inclination toward such an extreme adventure before lunch. You actually can’t see where we climbed down to because the drop off behind the green below was so steep. You can, however, see the waves crashing into the rocks on the other side the small channel we dared not cross.

After discovering the error of our way, we tightened all of our camera and backpack straps to climb the muddy path that turned out to be much less perilous going up. With a little extra adrenaline pumping, we doubled back to the sign that led us out to the neighborhood streets. There, we continued on the to the Little Blowhole.

As the name implies, there is actually a big Blowhole, although it is simply known as the Blowhole, but enough about naming blowholes. Both Blowholes are surprisingly fascinating to watch and listen to as air and water are forced through small openings in the volcanic rock, and the signs at the overlooks are quite informative.

I had the misconception that waves were just forceful enough to push the water through a hole in the ground, but it actually depends on the type of blowhole. The Kiama blowholes are land based blowholes, which are interesting if you have any enthusiasm for geology (to learn more, check out this Wikipedia article).

Every time the blowhole erupts, the erosion widens the hole, which lowers the force a tiny bit. The Little Blowhole is much more reliable in terms of erupting, and in the right conditions it shoots higher than the two-story residential buildings that surround it. While smaller than it’s counterpart, we got a better show than at the larger and more touristy blowhole.

It was about lunchtime when we finished up at the Little Blowhole, and our Airbnb rental was only a few blocks away, so we detoured by the house to eat. The plan was to finish lunch, check out Easts Beach, walk a small portion of the trail between Easts Beach and Gerringong, and then return to the car we left at breakfast.

Our research indicated that the last 10km stretch of coast would be very similar terrain the whole way, and it wasn’t warm enough to really enjoy the beach in Gerringong. We would take a peek at the Headlands and then proceed to sunset shots at another location.

After lunch, we started on our plan, walking down to Easts Beach, where I spent too much time trying to photograph a seagull and waves. I did not get the shot I wanted, but I did capture the Kiama Surf Rescue Boat out on patrol. Apologizing to my hiking party for the delay, we carried on, up the side of the cliffs, and on to greener pastures, literally!

Expecting the hike to be rather monotonous, we decided to walk for 15 minutes before turning around to head back.

The next 6km featured tremendously beautiful rolling, green hills on one side with amazing coast and beaches on the other. Try as we might, we were unable to turn around, with every turn the views did not disappoint.

As the afternoon progressed, the sun continued dropping, creating some incredible lighting for the photos. There were clouds, cows, and cliffs around each new bend, and while we lost track of time, we did not regret it. It was beautiful! We did wonder about whether we had enough daylight to complete the hike before heading back to Kiama (by bus), but we were too far away from the station to start worrying.

This final stretch entering Werri Beach was absolutely incredible, and fortunately for us, the water level was low. Evidently there are a few times when it is not passable due to heavy rains, which adds considerable distance to the hike. We were not equipped for a night hike, and we were also down to our last granola bar. It was time to pick up the pace and get a move on to the train station.

Luckily, we turned around one last time to appreciate the setting sun over the pastures.

We crossed the lagoon with ease, and spend a few minutes enjoying the final beach of our hike. Then we noticed the time. We had just enough to make the next train replacement bus back to Kiama from Gerringong so we ramped it up to a walk/jog towards the station.

Then, we ran into a nice pensioner on the walking path, and when she said hello, CZ gave her quite the smile so we reluctantly slowed down and began chatting. When we told her about the hike, she was quite impressed, although a little concerned that we would make the next bus. She shared her own story of moving to Gerrigong, local travels, and eventually offered us a ride back to Kiama, or at least to the station. Thankfully, we took her up on the offer because she drove us up the longest, steepest hill we saw all day! We made it to the station with just enough time to freshen up CZ and hop on the bus to Kiama.

3 Tips for Your Hike From Kiama to Gerringong:

1. Bring plenty of water because there is none on the trail.
2. In the summer do not start the hike, unless you have enough time to finish before midday. There is no shade cover, and in the peak sun and heat of summer it will be a miserable hike.
3. Know that the walk to Gerringong station from Werri Beach includes one of the most absurd hills you will ever ever climb to finish a long hike.