Resolutely Off the Beaten Track - Tour Facts
Ku-ring-gai Chase National Park
Ku-ring-gai Chase is a national park in New South Wales, 25 km north of Sydney located largely within the Ku-ring-gai, Hornsby, Warringah and Pittwater municipal areas.
Ku-ring-gai is known for its scenic setting on the edge of a southern branch of the Hawkesbury River as well as rock engravings and other art of Aboriginal origin. Picnic, boating, and fishing facilities can be found throughout the park.
Ku-ring-Gai Chase National Park was added to the Australian National Heritage List in December 2006.
Lying near the centre of a large sedimentary basin, Ku-ring-gai Chase National Park is characteristic of Hawkesbury sandstone. The rocks are mostly sandstone with some shales and some volcanic soils at West Head.
There are over 900 species of flora in the park.
West Head
West Head was added to the park in 1951, after a mixed history. In 1929, the area had been proposed as an upmarket country club, hotel, casino and golf club. However it ended up being used by the navy during the Second World War, when fortifications and gun emplacements were built along the headland. After the war, the naval buildings were turned into a fitness camp, which closed down in 1964 and became West Head lookout.
The NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service was created by Act of Parliament in 1967. The organisation took over the management of Ku-ring-gai Chase National Park, putting a new emphasis on nature conservation.
West Head has a number of vantage points with good views to Lion Island, the Central Coast, Barrenjoey and upper Pittwater. The view from this lookout is truly a feast for the eyes. Broken Bay on your left, Pittwater on your right, in front of you stands Barrenjoey Head and its lighthouse, looking out over the Pacific Ocean.
West Head Beach and Resolute Beach
West Head and Resolute Beach are sandy beaches shaded by trees, good for swimming in summer with excellent views across Pittwater to Station Beach.
Mackerel Beach
On the north-western shore of Pittwater, on the eastern edge of the Lambert peninsula are two beaches, Great and Little Mackerel. Both are named for the abundance of mackerel, which were found in the waters nearby. It is still a popular fishing area.
In 1823 John Clarke was granted land, comprising most of both Little and Great Mackerel beaches and farmed there together with Martin Burke. Subdivision of Great Mackerel beach in the early 1900s led to the gradual development of more than a hundred homes by the end of the century.
In 1910 Dr Bernard Stiles purchased land at Little Mackerel Beach and built Midholme, a house which still stands today. In 1949 the Labour Council of NSW purchased land at Little Mackerel Beach as an affordable holiday resort for union members and their families. The resort is called Currawong and the beach is often called Currawong Beach.
Both settlements can only be reached by water or on foot through the National Park.
Aboriginal sites in Kuring-gai National Park
Ku-ring-gai Chase National Park covers part of the Guringai people's traditional lands. Two clans of the Guringai occupied the area which is now the national park: the Garrigal people, who lived around West Head, and the Terramerragal, who lived in the Turramurra area.
Within six weeks of the arrival of the British First Fleet in Sydney, Governor Phillip went exploring around Broken Bay. He camped at Resolute Beach, and commented on the friendliness of the Aboriginal people. However, when he returned a year later, all except those too sick with smallpox fled from him. By 1790, over half of the Guringai nation had been wiped out by smallpox. By the 1840s, most of the Aboriginal people had disappeared from Pittwater and their traditional lands had been taken over by white settlers.
The national park has great cultural and spiritual importance for the Aboriginal people - both in its general landscape, and in the many Aboriginal sites found in the park.
Red Hands Cave is a small rock overhang just near Resolute Beach Picnic Area. The red hands are made by ochre, clay being blown over an outspread hand. This Aboriginal rock art has been given an estimation of approximately 2000 years in age.
Aboriginal middens are sites that contain sequences of deposits of tool, food and charcoal remains. Shelters such as the one here were not occupied on a permanent basis, but were probably used by a number of local “bands” of people as they continually moved along a short strip of coastal land in search of the best available food resources.
We pass a rocky outcrop with a number of Aboriginal carvings. The engravings depict a man, shark/whale, and two eels.
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