Sydney/St George and Sutherland Shire

Sutherland Shire is primarily a residential area and is known as "the Shire". Its main tourist destinations are the beach suburbs of Cronulla, the bushland of Australia's oldest national park the Royal National Park and the first landing point of Captain Cook at Botany Bay in Kurnell.

It is surrounded by water, with the ocean to the east, Port Hacking to the south, the Georges River and Botany Bay on the north, and the Woronora River on the west, although the Menai area (east of the Woronora) is also considered part of the Shire. It has numerous opportunities for uncrowded swimming, boating, bushwalking, and exploring the parks, gardens and history of the area.

The Sutherland Shire is a destination to consider if you were looking to stay in Sydney, but want to avoid the expense, parking hassles, and crowds of the city centre. It offers cheaper accommodation, less crowds, free parking, access to beaches, parks, and bushland, shopping and other amenities and is an 30-40 minute train trip or drive to the attractions at the city centre.

St George is the area north of the Georges River and south of the M5. Mostly made up of residences, the areas directly north of the river like Oatley and Lugarno are especially quiet and hardly explored by visitors. The population is rapidly changing, epitomised by Beverly Hills and Hurstville, now hotspots for Chinese shops and restaurants.

Trains run on the Eastern Suburbs and Illawarra and the South Coast line to the district every 15-30 minutes. The journey takes around 30-45 minutes. The city train stations of Central, Town Hall, Martin Place and Kings Cross offer a direct service. From the other city stations you will need to change at Central to platform 25.

From Sydney Airport catch any train from platform 2, change at Wolli Creek station to platform 4.

From the north there are three bridges over the Georges River that link to the Sutherland Shire. If you follow the Princes Highway south from the Sydney CBD towards Wollongong, you will enter the Sutherland Shire crossing the river at the Tom Ugly's Bridge. The journey will take around 30 minutes. Alternatively, you could travel along Rocky Point Road and cross Captain Cook bridge to enter the shire through Taren Point.

From the south Wollongong just follow the signs to Sydney via the Sydney freeway, and as soon as you seen the "Welcome to Sydney" sign, you have made it. The journey takes around 30 minutes but can be congested at peak times.

See also: Cycling in New South Wales

The cycleway from Sydney Olympic Park follows the Cooks River to the edge of Botany Bay through Southern Sydney. It enters the Sutherland Shire over the Captain Cook bridge and continues largely off-road or on quiet roads to Cronulla. It then continues on a wide shoulder on a 80km/h road to Kurnell. The cycle route is signposted, but there are a couple of intersections that are not well marked, and you should do some research on the route and take a map so you don't get lost or end up on a very busy road.

There are bus connections to Miranda direct from Hurstville and from Rockdale. Both are slower and more expensive than the train. Parramatta, and Bankstown are linked to Sutherland by the high frequency M92. As with most public transport in Sydney, Transport NSW will give you all the timetable and routing information you need.

Car is the easiest way to quickly and easily get around the district. It takes around 20 minutes to drive from east to west, and around 15 minutes north to south.

• Trains between Sutherland and Cronulla every 15 minutes, and every 30 minutes to other stations.
• Miranda tends to be main bus hub, with services running to Lilli Pilli, Sylvania (as well as Cronulla and Sutherland). Catch a bus to Sutherland for Menai, and points west of the Woronora River.

Transport NSW provides information on all bus and train times to any street address or attraction. It will recommend the quickest method at the time you wish to travel.

The area can be pleasant for cycling, but plan your route to avoid traffic and significant hill climbs. The three cross-routes from West to East, connect Illawong to Sutherland, Sutherland to Taren Point, and Taren Point to Cronulla and Kurnell.

• 🌍 Oatley Park, Oatley (2km walk west of Oatley station). One of the finest examples of Australian remnant bushland about 30 minutes drive of the CBD. Features bushwalking, swimming, bike trails as well as play equipment for children. The lookouts over the Georges River are also well worth a look. There is plenty of parking in the park. 
• 🌍 E.G. Waterhouse National Camellia Garden, President Ave, Caringbah (2 minutes drive/20 minutes walk from Caringbah along President Avenue). 9am until 5pm. A large garden area, with many varieties of flowers. Playground, artificial creeks and waterfalls, and a duck pond. Ducks are fat and usually very well fed. Teahouse in the gardens, popular spot. free. 
• 🌍 Joseph Banks Native Plants Reserve, Garnet Ave, Kareela (Entrance is hard to find, take Bates Drive from Princes Hwy (signposted to Kareela), left on Alpita to end, Left on Garnet to end, left on Manooka to end). A large collection of native plants, paved walks, barbecues well stocked with wood, and water views. This place is unknown to most, and is never crowded, except when hosting and occasional wedding. Lots of Australian plant species, and well worth grabbing some sausages, some matches, and heading over for a barbecue. free. 
• Peace Park/Japanese Garden, Eton St, Sutherland. A small, unassuming garden in Sutherland, celebrating the sister city relationship between the Sutherland Shire and Chuo in Tokyo. Cherry blossoms flowering in the spring. Possibly a nice place to visit for any homesick Japanese tourists in the area. free. 
• 🌍 Como Pleasure Grounds, Cremona Rd, Como (Walk down the hill from Como Station, turn left on Cremona Road, and follow until the end). Historically Como was a popular recreation ground for Sydneysiders on the steam train for a day out by the water. Today, it is still a popular park. There is a swimming pool, swimming enclosure on the Georges River, a cafe on the waters edge, playground, barbecues, picnic tables. Its popular with teenagers on weekends to hang out, eat, swim. There is a marina where you can hire small motor boats to explore the Georges River. There is also a Thai restaurant, with a take away kiosk, serving Thai and Australian food. free. 

• 🌍 Captain Cook's Landing Place, Captain Cook Drive, Kurnell (over Captain Cook Bridge, and along Captain Cook Drive, or train to Cronulla station and a 987 bus to Kurnell). Sunrise to Sunset. You can stand on the rock where Captain Cook first stepped ashore, starting the process of European settlement. The landing place is also now next to a large oil refinery. There is a monument walk here, and an interpretive visitors centre. The area is never crowded with visitors, and many Sydneysiders have never visited. There are usually plenty of available and well maintained electric barbecues and picnic tables by the water. Buses can be a couple of hours apart so check the times. Sutherland Shire used to be named the birthplace of modern Australia, referring to European settlement. Now the aspects of the Aboriginal and European settlement interaction are emphasised, and interpreted in the visitors centre in the park. There is a National Park Admission fee ($11/24hr) to drive into the Park. If you only want to visit the monuments and see the landing place you can easily park just by the beach outside the park and not incur any fee to walk along the monument track from the other end. Foot or bicycle access is always free.. 
• 🌍 Sydney Tramway Museum, Rawson Pde, Loftus (Adjacent to Loftus Railway Station, no entry from Metroad 1 heading south). Su W 10AM-5PM. Additional days school holidays. They have an old Bondi tram, overseas trams, and tramrides, including rides to the Royal National Park. They also have a large display area. Adult $18, child $10. 

• 🌍 Kamay-Botany Bay National Park. After visiting the landing place, there are several walks and drives within the park. One of the better ones is the walk to Cape Solander. The cliff aspect is nice, and views right out to see and across Cronulla You also lose the industrial view on this walk as well, which is so noticeable on the monument walk. Whale watching is popular at Cape Solander in season. 
• 🌍 Towra Point Wetland, Captain Cook Drive. The Towra point wetland is an imporant resource for migratory birds, with mangroves and inter-tidal mud-flats. It is a protected area, and mostly not open to visitors. The National Park Visitors Centre at Kurnell does organise tours occasionally. There are three points available to view over the wetland, each off Captain Cook Drive, and worth stopping at if you are on the way to Kurnell. Between November and March you may spot the migratory Eastern Curlew, which spends the other half of the year in Siberia. Take your binoculars. 

• 🌍 Hazelhurst Regional Gallery, The Kingsway, Gymea (Exist from the station, and proceed straight ahead). 10am-5pm. Very much a community art gallery, surrounded by pretty gardens. Nice coffee shop in amongst it all. free. 

• Miranda Fair Food Halls, Kingsway, Miranda (adjacent to Miranda Station). open until 7PM, and 9PM Thursdays. Cheap food, including the major chains. Lots of choice, a place to eat, but no ambience. 
• Mr India (50m east of Sutherland Station). Open for lunch and dinner. Eat in or take away, Mr India will give you a very tasty Indian meal for well under $10. The Naan is cooked fresh to order, and is best used to soak up the Lamb Korma. 
• Pauls Hamburgers, Princes Hwy, Sylvania (Just south of the Tom Uglys Bridge). Wednesday-Sunday. A local institution, was serving hamburgers through a hole in the wall 40 years ago. Any resemblance to the chain hamburgers is entirely coincidental, this is a different animal. Tender and juicy. Order one with the lot, and a Pina Colada milkshake, and walk down to the river and eat it under the bridge. 

• Gymea Bay Road (North), Gymea Bay Road (Just north of Gymea train station, turn right out of the station). Lots of great cafe food in Gymea. Modern Australian Cuisine 
• Moshka, Box Rd, Jannali (Just east of the train station at Jannali). Moderately priced Indian restaurant with flair, and really tasty food. If you don't feel like Indian, the Thai Tiger, is next door down, and Italy in Jannali is on the corner. You will need to book on Friday/Saturday nights, but other times just walk in. 
• The Big Mexican Rancho, the corner of Casaurina Rd and Gymea Bay Rd. Tu-Sa dinner. This restaurant has open at the same place for well over 20 years. Food not really authentic or unique, but decent serves of tasty food, consistently popular locally. mains $20. 

All Sutherland Shire Libraries provide full internet access, with free Wi-Fi for up to 4 hours per day and computers for hire. There are libraries at Cronulla, Caringbah, Miranda, Sutherland and elsewhere, that are open Monday to Friday and Saturday Mornings. Only Sutherland is open Saturday and Sunday afternoons.

Gloria Jeans Coffee by the station in Sutherland provides free Wi-Fi for customers, as does the cafe two doors down in the Eton Arcade, and various other cafes around. Usually you will need to get the password from the counter.

There is free Wi-Fi in both the food courts in Miranda Westfield shopping mall, courtesy of the McDonald's restaurants there, as well as at the McDonalds in Kirrawee, Sylvania and Cronulla.