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Head out from Loftus on the Princes Highway, and take the Royal National Park turn off (Farnell Ave).

Basically you just follow this road until you get to Wollongong. There are turn-offs to get to the freeway at Stanwell Tops (just near Sea Cliff Bridge), and another in the middle of the National Park that goes to Waterfall.

If you go on a weekend, don't expect a fast drive, because it's packed with family 4wds.

Best time for a drive is mid week, and especially early in the morning, and the best sections of road are the parts between the Bundeena turn off and Stanwell Tops, as there is less traffic, and the road surface is in better condition.

Also, there are a few patches of horribly repaired potholes, so watch out!

mmmmmmmmmm, \"The Natio\". My local stomping ground, just a few km from home. I learnt to ride my motorbike through there many years ago. I think I know every single bump and hollow in that road. It's a great suspension test road. It just seems to get rougher and rougher, except for the freshly resealed bit at the end.

Unfortunately with all the ruccus happening on the Old Road over the last few years The Natio is getting a bit congested with the weekend warriors that used to frequent the Old Road and it wont be long before the boys in blue focus their attention down south.

you have to be really careful there at night. i've had a mate get into an accident with a deer or something of that nature. saw the damage on the side of his vehicle and it looked pretty nasty - repairable write off. there's also a few sweeping turns that shouldn't be underestimated too

I just put together a youtube vid, showing some of the better bits.

http://au.youtube.com/watch?v=zFQ9yHZYi24

-Enjoy

I have dríven the RNP a few times in a few different cars. And i had quite a few near misses. I learnt from a park ranger when my mate rolled his MR2 that you can get these whistle things that you can attached to your car via the side windows that will make a noise that scare-warn the animals away. Humans can not hear the frequency of the whistle. He said that many rural farmers use them to avoid accidents.

Also we are told that most people die from avioding animals, you should try to stop or slow down as much as possible instead of trying to avoid. Its safer for you to hit then flip or drive the car off the road...

As I predicted last year and after a major motorcycle crash earlier this year the Fun Police are in the throws of formulating a new safety policy for the park which will entail reduced speed limits, resurfacing of some parts and a higher Police presence. *sigh*

they've already resurfaced the really poor quality bits of road on the way to bundeena.. There's only a few dodgy bits left between bundeena and waterfall now

Unfortunately, the police presence is up at the moment. I drove through last week on a wednesday evening, and saw a highway patrol doing the rounds.. HOWEVER a few weeks ago I spotted 2 highway patrols racing up towards waterfall with their lights flashing (I doubt there was any emergency at waterfall that would need 2 highway patrols to attend).

Anyway, the road surface surely needs fixing.

Have had maaany a great drive through here.

The back section is also notable for frequent damp spots (on the road), as there are many spots that do not see much sun.

Notable also for finishing at Bald Hill, Stanwell Tops where you can often mingle with other car and biking enthusiasts, watch the hang-gliders, and grab a snack from the van that is often there.

On one occasion, i was even fortunate enough to ride down the awesome little twisty section to Stanwell and back in a 4AG powered PBR Clubman. Open wheelers absolutely rock.

Last Sunday. Best to see it on Youtube itself as the video is a lot bigger. Sound isn't the best but it'll do.

Love this section of Natio. Real fun fast or slow.

edit: video goooone

i just hit play and couldn't stop glancing at your sig while watching the video.

two40 wrote:Last Sunday. Best to see it on Youtube itself as the video is a lot bigger. Sound isn't the best but it'll do.

Love this section of Natio. Real fun fast or slow.

Whilst I do enjoy the same piece of road, I dont enjoy coming across idiots like yourself coming the other way. What would possess you to overtake 4 cars at once, on the wrong side of double lines .
You put everyone on that road at risk with your antics, and while Im sure you would say it was safe, you need to save it for the track.
Its People like you that kill innocent families, through there self indulgences. You need to grow up and grow a brain, before you kill someone.

I have been in a head on accident because some dick head did exactly what you just videoed, and its not pretty..!!!

Old Dude

Never said it was safe. I am a dick.

why was there even double lines on that section of road? That was a perfectly acceptable overtaking area in my eyes... the 4 cars at the one time maybe not but oh well.

uh oh possible cow alert

By the looks of the video, the new surface has double lines all the way? Weird

kitkat wrote:why was there even double lines on that section of road? That was a perfectly acceptable overtaking area in my eyes... the 4 cars at the one time maybe not but oh well.

uh oh possible cow alert

Most of the lower section has been given double lines, including sections that were once marked with broken lines for overtaking. I guess the powers that be have decided any overtaking through there is unsafe.

Which brings me to another point, is overtaking over broken lines not taught in driver training anymore? I see strings of 10 or more cars all following each other like sheep, because the car up the front is doing well under the speed limit, when plentiful safe overtaking opportunities, over broken white lines with good visibility, go unused... People seem quite shocked to see me driving past on the 'wrong' side of the road, even though it's perfectly safe and legal (and not even speeding, as the car in front is generally going very slowly)