Bound for Broken Bay
A walking tour from Popran to Warrah Lookout connecting historical landscapes and waterways. Hear Indigenous and European histories of Broken Bay - magnificent views from the sea, to Lion Island, Pittwater and the mouth of the Hawkesbury River. Coffee and cake at Patonga boathouse.
Walk with an historian to hear about Cook’s journey up the coast in 1770 to Governor Philip’s expedition in March 1788 and much older traditions evidenced in the surrounding landscape of middens and engravings. Our tour starts in the small village of Patonga where we explore sandstone rock formations before climbing up from Dark Corner through rain forest, open forest and heathland with botanical interpretations en route.
At our first lookout we consider the the formation of the landscape from sandstone carried from Antarctica 300 million years ago and learn about maritime histories of Broken Bay and the Hawkesbury River trade. At our second lookout an even more expansive vista opens out connecting the Pacific Ocean to Pittwater and the Hawkesbury River. From here we hear about Bungaree named ‘chief of the Broken Bay tribe by Gov. Macquarie and why he was the most celebrated man in early Sydney. We return at a leisurely pace to Patonga for an afternoon coffee and cake at the boathouse.