Sydney from the air

Above: Leaving Sydney yesterday morning, looking south over the Kurnell Peninsula, Towra Point wetlands and in the middle, Cronulla beach.

Returning this afternoon, looking west, with Gladesville Bridge in the foreground, across the Parramatta River.

Kurnell sand dunes

When I was a kid, we used to come to these sand dunes and slide down them. Sometimes my son's school cricket team goes there to train by running up and down them.

Now they are far less extensive than they were then. They once reached a height of 40m above sea level, and 90m below. Originally covered by timber, they were cleared, and became unstable. They were mined between 1930 and 1990. In 2003 they were placed on the State Heritage Register.

Several Australian movies were filmed amongst the Kurnell sand dunes, including Forty Thousand Horsemen, The Rats of Tobruk, Phar Lap, Mad Max: Beyond Thunderdome.

Read more about the dunes here. And about sand mining here.