Some places are breathtaking whenever you visit. Those same places can be just that little bit more special if you spend time there without the crowds. I reckon Mount Keira Summit Park, with its wide open picnic spots, friendly kookaburras, clean toilet facilities and absolutely 'stop you in your track' views up and down the coast is great when it’s bustling with visitors checking out just what the Illawarra has to offer. But if you decide to wander up the dirt track and into the bush, it’s a cracking spot when there’s fewer people around – you might even get to spot a lyrebird or two.

It’s a winding road up Mount Keira and onto Queen Elizabeth Drive, but we were looking for a ‘quick, let’s get out of the house’ micro-adventure and the weather was playing nice so the decision to visit the lookout was an easy one to make. From the carpark it is a hop, skip and a jump to the viewing platforms. From various vantage points you can see well into the Royal National Park to the north and down to Kiama and across to Lake Illawarra. The day we visited, the Illawarra was shimmering away, the ocean stretched out and sparkling while the expanse of gums swayed in the breeze. Beautiful.

But we were more interested in following the Mt Keira Summit Track, 400 metres along to the Five Islands Lookout and then onto Dave Walsh’s Track. The Summit Track is easy-peasy and the number of super young families enjoying it was testament to that. The air cooled noticeably and fungi clung to trees and peeked up out of the leaf litter. Lichen and moss adorned the few steps and over the bush rocks. We even caught sight of a lovely superb lyrebird, its ornate tail flicking in and out of view as we snuck past it.

A few minutes from the main lookout, you can find the Six Daughters of the West Wind sculpture. This artwork represents the local Indigenous story of Oolaboolawoo and how Mt Keira and the Five Islands off the coast were created. At this point, you can take the track to the right, carpeted with leaf litter and leading back to the carpark, return the way you came or head on a little further and join up with Dave Walsh’s Track. 

We loved the short section of this track that we completed (it eventually links up to the Mt Keira Ring Track). Think: huge termite mounds and huge bush rocks where you can sit and look out onto the escarpment. This spot is also super popular as an abseiling and rock climbing spot and was buzzing with activity when we got there. And that’s why we’ve added it to our ‘weekday wander’ list, because that spot is begging to be used as perfect spot for a picnic and the fewer people to judge the size of my picnic spread, the better.