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| View across Kangaroo
Valley |
Kangaroo Valley
A beautiful valley behind the coastal escarpment
It is difficult to do justice to the beauty of Kangaroo
Valley, a delightful scenic area which is centred around a
small village 159 km south of Sydney via the Princes
Highway. The patchwork quilt of farms, the rainforest
clinging to the steep slopes of the valley, the prettiness
of the river, the facilities for the traveller, the small
creeks which cross the valley, all make it a very special
and particularly attractive place. These qualities have been
recognised by the National Trust which classified the town
in 1977.
Most people who travel to Kangaroo Valley are happy to
picnic beside the Kangaroo River, walk across the Hampden
Bridge, hire canoes and go for a row on the Kangaroo River,
visit the craft shops, food shops and tea rooms in the
village, and just generally relax. The more adventurous can
go bushwalking, and those determined to push on can wind
their way up from the valley and head towards the dramatic
Fitzroy Falls which tumble over the escarpment. The valley
is almost entirely surrounded by sheer sandstone cliffs.
The Wodi Wodi Aborigines, whose chief meeting place was
Lake Illawarra, occupied the land long before European
settlement. An 1826 census indicated 79 Aborigines in the
valley. Botanist James Backhouse's account of his meeting
with a gathering in 1836 describes how : 'several of them
speak tolerable English. They were attired either in skin
garments, fastened over one shoulder and under the other, or
in blankets, or articles of European clothing; one having on
a pair of trousers, another a shirt, a third a jacket, and
so on. Few of them had any covering for their heads, and
none had shoes.
'All of them had undergone the ceremony of having one
front-tooth knocked out, on being admitted to the privileges
of manhood; and they had the cartilages of their noses
perforated and bones, the thickness of a quill, and about
four inches long, through them. They wore fillets of network
about their heads, and beads, formed of short pieces of
reed, about their necks.
'Among their possessions was a musket, exchanged for work
undertaken. In 1846 a settler noted five encampments of
Kooris in the valley - 'each camp in a separate gully'.
White settlement of the valley occurred in the 1860s and the
Wori Wori were driven from their traditional grounds and
sacred sites. In the space of about thirty years 20,000
years of Aboriginal settlement came to an end. There appear
to have been no permanent Aboriginal residents in the valley
by the early 1890s.
The origins of the name Kangaroo Valley are apparent in a
remark made by the Reverend W.B. Clarke who observed, as
early as 1840, that the valley 'takes its name from the
kangaroos which formerly abounded here but are now extinct'.
In 1812 surveyor George William Evans and his party,
guided by an Aboriginal man named Bundle, journeyed from
Jervis Bay to the Shoalhaven River. They climbed Cambewarra
Mountain where Evans remarked upon the magnificence of the
view.
In 1815 cattleman Captain Richard Brooks received a
1300-acre land grant at what is now Dapto. By 1817 Governor
Macquarie promised Brooks a 700-acre grant and Brooks set up
his hut and stockyards about one kilometre from where the
Hampden Bridge now stands.
In 1823 Cornelius O'Brien took up land in the area, where
his overseer was assaulted by Brooks. Others soon followed
in the western half of the valley. Five years later
Alexander Berry's men crossed Kangaroo Mountain to find a
million feet of cedar south of Broger's Creek.
In 1831 Robert Hoddle made the first land survey of
Kangaroo Valley and the surrounding escarpments. The years
1835-41 saw large land grants conferred upon several men.
A census of 1841 indicates that there were two free men
and five convicts living in Kangaroo Valley but, in reality,
including sawyers hidden away in the forests, there were
between ten and twenty whites, not to mention the
Aborigines.
Irishman Charles McCaffrey and his family became the
first white family to settle in the valley in 1846, when
they came to work for Henry Osborne. They also became the
first to manufacture sufficient butter to begin exporting it
outside of the valley, thus foreshadowing the dairy industry
which would later become the area's chief source of
employment .
A number of the pioneer farmers were from county
Fermanagh in Ireland. The manufacture of moonshine whiskey
followed in their wake, a tradition carried on at least
until the end of the 1920s.
The population rapidly increased from about 200 whites in
1860 to around 1400 by 1880. A new, improved access road
into the valley was cut in the early 1860s and the first
public school, post office and church (Anglican) were
completed in 1871. Roman Catholic and Wesleyan churches
followed in 1873 and a Presbyterian kirk the following year.
The township grew with the improvement of roads in the
late 1870s, the opening of a bridge over the river in 1879,
the introduction of the cream separator in 1881, which
facilitated the development of the dairy industry, the
introduction of telephones in 1884, improvements in local
banking in the 1880s and the opening of butter factories
from 1888.
By the 1890s the town was in decline due to a variety of
circumstances including the 1890s depression, a rabbit
plague, the attraction of the developing coal mines around
Wollongong and the improvements in the production of butter
and dairy products. Today Kangaroo Valley township is a
small village of about 280 residents. It is a tourist
destination surrounded by a small number of farmers and a
large number of weekend residents and people who have a few
hectares and have escaped the bustle of city life.
Things to see:
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| Hampden Suspension Bridge
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Hampden Suspension Bridge
1898 saw the opening of the district's central man-made
feature, the Hampden Suspension Bridge. Reputedly the oldest
surviving suspension bridge in the country and the
third-largest in the state it spans the Kangaroo River on
the main road from Kangaroo Valley to Moss Vale. Noted for
the castellated towers at either end, which support the
cables and which resemble the turrets of a medieval castle,
it was named after the then-governor of NSW, Lord Hampden.
His real name, less impressively, was Henry Bland. For
understandable reasons he adopted the title as he was
descended from British parliamentary leader John Hampden.
The bridge's centenary was celebrated in 1998. There are
picnic and barbecue facilities on both sides of the river.
The river below the bridge is a popular swimming and
canoeing spot. Canoes can be hired adjacent the bridge at
Kangaroo Valley Tourist Park which is open every day, tel:
(02) 4465 1310. Kangaroo Valley Safaris is also open daily
for canoes, kayaks and camping equipment, tel: (02) 4465
1502. They will take you to various locations to explore the
valley for yourself and pick you up again. They also provide
information about local bushwalking. Canoe and guided bass
fishing tours are provided by Kangaroo Valley Canoe
Adventures, tel: 1800 805 742.
George Wiley Bridge and Pioneer Settlement Reserve
In 1931 another impressive suspension bridge was erected
over Broger's Creek by local men (dairy farmers and a
blacksmith) with no technical expertise or assistance and at
their own expense. 63 metres in length, the George Wiley
Bridge supported vehicles of up to 2 tonnes for 45 years
until superseded by a concrete span. It is now located at
the northern end of the Hampden Bridge adjacent the Pioneer
Settlement Reserve. Call (02) 4465 1306 for opening times.
There are picnic and toilet facilities at the Reserve.
Pioneer Farm Museum
The Pioneer Farm Museum is based around an 1865 farmhouse.
Originally located at Bendeela this building was to be
submerged when Tallowa Dam went ahead but local residents
fought successfully for its preservation. There is a dairy,
a forge and horse-drawn vehicles. Adjacent is Hampden
Cottage, a shop specialising in pottery and ferns which is
housed in the 1880 residence of an early settler. Both
structures are fully furnished by the historical society
after the fashion of the day.
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| The main street of
Kangaroo Valley township |
Historic Buildings
The Anglican Church of the Good Shepherd was the first
independent commission of notable architect John Horbury
Hunt who designed several other buildings in the valley
including the Barrengarry Public School (1880). The church
is open by appointment only (02 4465 1585).
The rectory (1889) was also designed by Hunt and was
erected by John Tanner in 1878. It was built of sandstone
taken from the banks of the Kangaroo River, as were the
public school at Kangaroo Valley (1884), and the former
courthouse (c.1910) - an asymmetrical structure which,
although altered and extended, is also of some interest.
Unfortunately the rectory and school are now somewhat
obscured by weatherboard additions.
Attractions along Mt Scanzi Road
There are a number of attractions along Mt Scanzi Rd. 4.5 km
from town Orchid Images is an orchid nursery and sales
centre which also offers group tours. It is best seen in
winter and spring and is open Wednesdays to Sundays from
10-5; tel: (02) 4465 1655.
Mt Scanzi Rd becomes Tallowa Dam Road and leads to
Tallowa Dam at the junction 23.5 km west of the Kangaroo
Valley township. The dam is the major component of the
Shoalhaven Water Scheme. This is a very pretty spot and
there are picnic, barbeque and toilet facilities nearby.
Lookouts in the Area
1. Cambewarra Mountain
Leave Kangaroo Valley heading towards Nowra, at the top of
the hill there is a hairpin bend which heads towards
Cambewarra Mountain where the lookout offers one of the
finest views on the south coast. The lookout is open daily
from 10 until dusk. There is a coffee shop, picnic and
barbecue facilities and toilets. A hang-gliding launch site
is available on weekends only (02 4465 1321). It is
necessary to ring the duty officer at HMAS Albatross to
check on air traffic. tel: (02) 4421 1211.
2. Barrengarry
The journey from Kangaroo Valley township to Fitzroy Falls
is only 15 kilometres but the windy road and the views over
the valley from Barrengarry make it an extraordinary
experience. But still, such perspectives pale when compared
to the views of Morton National Park that are available from
Fitzroy Falls.
Homelea Cottage at 149 Moss Vale Road which is the town's
visitor information centre. They have advice about walks and
activities. Contact 4465 1830 for more information. You can
also get information from the Shoalhaven Tourist Centre on
1300 662 808
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Kangaroo
Valley
