Garden inspiration: Royal National Park

Another bushwalk, another inspiring native landscape! The Royal National Park south of Sydney is the second-oldest national park in the world (after Yellowstone National Park in the US), and home to a diverse range of terrains and ecosystems packed into a relatively small area.

The park contains many different walks, and you could spend weeks looking around. We got inspired on the tiny Bungoona Track (less than a kilometre long) near the NSW Parks and Wildlife Service offices, at the north-west of the park.
The start of the Bungoona Track. Image by Emma Rooksby. 
 What's really amazing about this little track is the sheer diversity of plants you can see along the way, with eucalypts, banksias, hakeas, hoveas, and all sorts of other amazing shrubs, trees, grasses and creepers! Here are just a few of my favourites: 

A new candle emerges on an Old Man Banksia (Banksia serrata) tree. Image by Emma Rooksby.
A NSW Wedding Bush (Ricinocarpos pinifolius) in flower. Image by Emma Rooksby. 

Broad-leaved Geebung (Persoonia levis) and Drumsticks (Isopogon aneminifolius). Image by Emma Rooksby. 
A stunning pea plant - but I don't know its name! I think it's probably Graceful Bush-pea (Pultenaea blakelyi) or possibly Pultenaea flexilis, which has the same common name. Image by Emma Rooksby.

An old favourite - Epacris longiflora in full bloom
 And to top it all off, there's a fabulous view over the Hacking River at the end of the walk!

View from the lookout
 Do you have a favourite walk in the Royal National Park?

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