Voices from the Secret River

River Cruise and Symposium on history and heritage of the Hawkesbury River.

Journey into the waterways of Dyarubbin with historians, writers and storytellers for a morning river cruise.

Hear from historian Stephen Gapps how Aboriginal people used the rivers, creeks and waterways from Pittwater to Windsor. At ‘Gentlemans Halt’ we stand on country evoked in ‘Benevolence’ by indigenous writer Julie Janson about the Hawkesbury River in the 1830s. Cruising upriver we trace hidden stories in the landscape of bolters, bushrangers and early river traders with expert storyteller Max Burns McRuvie.

Rock, Stone and Sky – from rock art mapping to archaeological fieldwork in the Mangrove Creek Valley, and tracing the pathways of the celestial emu.

Bob Pankhurst reveals his life time exploration of rock art sites around the valleys and ridges of the hinterland. Honouring the work of Dr Val Attenbrow hear how tools were formed and distributed at Popran/ Peats Ridge quarry and Mangrove creek. Ray Norris, Emeritus professor at CSIRO shares his pioneering work guided by elders to uncover the significance of the celestial emu and interconnections between land and sky.

A light lunch in the Spencer village -Thai finger food and noodles in the ambience of the Thai garden.