Home Topics History & Culture VIDEO: Beach shacks of Royal National Park

VIDEO: Beach shacks of Royal National Park

Image credit: Andrew Gregory

There are 143 beach shacks in this section the Royal National Park, about 50km south of Sydney: 20 shacks at Little Garie, 95 at South Era and another 28 at Burning Palms. Most date back to the 1930s; they represent a moment in time, a long-since faded slice of Australian history. In the ’30s and ’40s, miners from Helensburgh, at the southern edge of the park, came to the coast looking for a weekend escape. Holidaymakers from Sydney trekked south too: surfers, bushwalkers and families looking for a cheap getaway.

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