Bundeena the interesting way around

19 March 2026 / Senia Gaunson

Bundeena the interesting way around

Wednesday 18th March, a drizzly morning start, didn't deter most of us from getting the car out of the garage for a John Zaremba "Special", drive to Bundeena via some beautiful Thirroul to Seacliff roads that no one apart from the locals knows about.

We met at the Bulli Beach Cafe in time to admire Barry Pope's new Soul Crystal Red ND and headed off the main road straight away, up and down some amazing side streets reminiscent of rain forests, full of tree ferns and green canopied trees.  John and Chrissie Zaremba have lived in at least ten houses in this landscape and know the area better than most.  From here they led us along, arguably the most photographed bridge in the world, the Seacliff Bridge, up to Bald Hill for coffee (or in my case salted caramel ice cream) where we were greeted by two brave souls skydiving in the clouds, quite a treat given it had been raining most of the morning.

By this time, the misty rain had stopped so the tops came down and we were off for a sensory drive through the National Park, with a quick stop at the Helensburgh HinduTemple and up to Bundeena RSL where we were met by some friendly locals who took the ferry instead of their car (probably a wise choice given the current price of petrol!) to meet us for lunch at the RSL.  Wonderful to catch up with Kim and Peter Ranger, who we haven't seen for some time, as well as our regulars, Julie and Mark Sando as well as Wes Hill.  We missed Lena who was not feeling well.

How wonderful is it to be alive and able to hop in the car on a Wednesday morning to zoom along some lovely roads and enjoy great food and company by the sea.