If you are driving south from Sydney, take a little detour to visit the Bald Hill Lookout and enjoy a lunch with a view. The lookout of the Undola Ridge has an observation deck overlooking the Tasman Sea and South Pacific coast of New South Wales.
Reaching 980feet (300 meters) high, Bald Hill makes for a good vantage point. The Tharwal people of the area have come here for centuries. They are the traditional custodians of the land and their Dreamtime stories are depicted on a big Welcome to Country sign on the top of the hill, near the Aboriginal mosaic bench.
Bald Hill also has an early history with aviation. Lawrence Hargrave, an Australian engineer who lived here on family land, managed to take off from the beach below using four box kites on November 12, 1894. If you are here in mid November, attend the Stanwell Park Festival of Flight which takes place around the date of his legendary flight. Find the memorial cairn that depicts the aeronautical pioneer holding a model of his clever contraption.
Bald Hill is still a popular place to fly from today. Watch the brave hang gliders and paragliders take off from the ridge and soar right overhead. Read the signs that explain the aerodynamics and technique of it all.
Visit the small cafe under the lookout platform by the toilet facilities. Order a hot drink on a windy day or an ice cream on a hot day in this more sheltered spot, or find a picnic table on the hill.
Gaze out over the tree-covered capes of the Royal National Park and spot the town of Stanwell Park and its sandy beach below. The Bald Hill Lookout is a popular spot to film car commercials from because it looks out over the snaking Sea Cliff Bridge in the distance. This winding road juts out over the ocean, hugging the rugged cliffs at Wollongong.
To get to the Bald Hill Lookout from the Princes Highway, take a little detour towards Otford. There is an on-site parking lot, from where short stairs lead up to the viewing platform. Stanwell Park and Otwell, on either side below the lookout, have train stations of the Illawarra Line from Sydney.
