The famous mountain range west of Sydney Australia is called the Blue Mountains.Nowdays Sydneys urban sprawl has pushed up to the base of the edge of the mountain range near at penrith and also in the the hawkesbury areas.
The mountains officially start about 60 kilometres to the west of Sydney.The famous Blue Mountains National park starts near the western side of the Nepean River and all the way in the west to the trout laden Coxs River.
The plateaus and deep gorges descend to over 500 metres but also rise to snow capped points over 1,000 metres above sea level.The majority of the Blue Mountains National park is listed as a World Heritage area which also includes seven national parks.They were listed in the 1970`s as conservation areas.
The Blue Mountains area also includes local government areas of the City of Hawkesbury, the City of Blue Mountains, the City of Oberon and with its most westerly city being Lithgow.
Early aboriginal tribes were living in the Blue Mountains before the area was opened up by early explorers.A well known example of early koori stencil art is the famous Red Hands Cave, above Glenbrook.Axe sharpening areas can still be seen there as well.
The local koori`s mainly used two different routes to move round the rugged hills and valleys.The trails were on the bilpin ridge and the other was near the present day Cox`s river.The river paths were easier and lead onwards to the farms of the kanimbla valley.
Early settlers believed the rugged mountains were not passable due to the rugged terrain as well as the dense foliage they encountered.The governor at the time encouraged the population to think the mountains could not be passed to discourage escape attempts.This mindset worked for several years.
John Wilson who was a former convict claimed to have been the been the first white man known to have crossed the Blue Mountains Ranges.He supposedly lived the local koori`s and returned to Sydney in about 1797 and he had been over 100 miles outside of Sydney.He is not mentioned in most books now days.
Wilsons colourful descriptions of these areas later appeared accurate but he was never accepted at the time as discoverer due to class distinctions and the desire to discourage escaping convicts.Local aboriginals killed him for stealing one of their women.He may have been wild but he was an accurate observer of the area.
The mountains officially start about 60 kilometres to the west of Sydney.The famous Blue Mountains National park starts near the western side of the Nepean River and all the way in the west to the trout laden Coxs River.
The plateaus and deep gorges descend to over 500 metres but also rise to snow capped points over 1,000 metres above sea level.The majority of the Blue Mountains National park is listed as a World Heritage area which also includes seven national parks.They were listed in the 1970`s as conservation areas.
The Blue Mountains area also includes local government areas of the City of Hawkesbury, the City of Blue Mountains, the City of Oberon and with its most westerly city being Lithgow.
Early aboriginal tribes were living in the Blue Mountains before the area was opened up by early explorers.A well known example of early koori stencil art is the famous Red Hands Cave, above Glenbrook.Axe sharpening areas can still be seen there as well.
The local koori`s mainly used two different routes to move round the rugged hills and valleys.The trails were on the bilpin ridge and the other was near the present day Cox`s river.The river paths were easier and lead onwards to the farms of the kanimbla valley.
Early settlers believed the rugged mountains were not passable due to the rugged terrain as well as the dense foliage they encountered.The governor at the time encouraged the population to think the mountains could not be passed to discourage escape attempts.This mindset worked for several years.
John Wilson who was a former convict claimed to have been the been the first white man known to have crossed the Blue Mountains Ranges.He supposedly lived the local koori`s and returned to Sydney in about 1797 and he had been over 100 miles outside of Sydney.He is not mentioned in most books now days.
Wilsons colourful descriptions of these areas later appeared accurate but he was never accepted at the time as discoverer due to class distinctions and the desire to discourage escaping convicts.Local aboriginals killed him for stealing one of their women.He may have been wild but he was an accurate observer of the area.
0 comments:
Post a Comment