31 March - Plus Walk: Sydney Harbour NP - Abbotsford to Rhodes
A large group met on Abbotsford Wharf, travelling from Meadowbank, Cabarita and the Quay. 22 were walking to Rhodes, so we separated from the smaller group walking to Cabarita.
Above Early Christmas or late. Our welcome at the ferry terminal Right Gathering at Abbotsford
As we walked around the foreshore we passed through Battersea Park and the Quarantine Station where horse stalls and dog kennels are preserved.
Cattle stalls at Quarantine Park Quarantine Park information board
We continued along the shoreline of Hen and Chicken Bay for morning tea at Halliday Park
Above Fungi after all the rain Right Black-winged stilts
Morning tea at Halliday Park
The paved path continues with short street diversions along the shoreline of Kings Bay and Canada Bay to Bayview Park where there is a memorial to Canadian rebels deported to Australia in 1839. The name Canada Bay honours the link with Canada.
We continued around Exile Bay and the upper Hen and Chicken Bay into the Edgewood Estate on the former Dulux Australia site to Cabarita. We had lunch in a pavilion with panels showing local history. Cabarita is an Aboriginal word meaning by the water. From the 1880s until World War 1, a focus of the park was Correy’s Pleasure Gardens operated on land adjacent to Cabarita Park.
Strathroy
Left Reading the information board at Cabarita Above Lunch at Cabarita
The walk continues along Kendall Bay, the shore of Breakfast Point, the former AGL gas works in Mortlake. According to historical records, the suburb name is derived from the first contact between Europeans and the traditional owners of the land, the Wangal Clan.
After a look at the Mortlake to Putney ferry, which operates in peak hours, we continued along the mangrove lined shores of the Parramatta river to Yaralla Estate. The Dame Eadith Walker Estate is of outstanding cultural significance for NSW. It comprises a unique complex of 19th and early 20th century buildings in an essentially rural landscape setting and is an exceptionally rare complete example of a large Edwardian private residential estate in Australia and one in close proximity to the city.
Anne provides the history Yaralla
Beautiful grounds of Yaralla One of the original trees of Concord
We left the water logged shoreline path to have a closer look at the house and grounds and cut across fields to Concord Hospital to join the Kokoda track memorial walkway to Rhodes.
We finished with coffee at Kokoda Café.
Coffee (or iced coffee) at the Kokoda Cafe - Anne R, Sue and Barbara
Along the walk Anne G, who has been a local for 48 years, told us about the history of the shoreline which has been developed from industrial to residential in the last 40 years. More walking information can be downloaded from Canada Bay Walking Tours app
Walkers: Anne G, Anne R (leaders), Wendy P, Christine Mc, Robyn M, Barbara, Kurt, Bert, Clive, Celia, Wendy C, Ros G, John M, Vreni, Sue S, Maurice & Sue, Annette, Lyn, Drina, David C, Don C (new).
Words: Anne G.
Photos, Wendy C (1, 3, 14,18), Sue S (2, 9, 11, 12, 16, 17), Anne R (4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 10), Barbara (15), Bert (19)