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Deep Time Sandstone Country:
On Foot with a Geologist

tour leader

Gil Jones

destinations

Hawkesbury River, Devines Hill, Finchs Line, Old Great North Road, Darkinyung Country.

time & date

9.00am - 4.00pm

Saturday 19th April 2025

fitness level

Moderate to Hard, mainly along fire trails includes some steep slopes, scrambling and climbing over loose surfaces

10 kms

ticket price

$85.00 plus booking fee

highlights

  • Morning tea at a Hawkesbury River cafe

  • Explore the Old Great North Road with a geologist tracing deep time history in the landscape 

  • Panoramic views over the Hawkesbury landscape to the Blue Mountains

 

the tour

Gathering at the convict road kiosk for morning tea, join geologist and author Gil Jones for a full day excursion focusing on the rocks and landscape of Hawkesbury Sandstone Country. The tour takes us on foot along the World Heritage Old Great North Road. Starting up Devine’s Hill (immediately north of Wisemans Ferry) we ascend the convict road which offers a continuous cutting through sandstone. Hear about the characteristics that reveal its origin in Gondwana more than 200 million years ago. Further along the ridge-top track we follow Finchs Line with panoramic views over the Hawkesbury landscape to the Blue Mountains - a landscape which has evolved in the last 100 million years. Our descent takes us along a roughly hewn track through open forest to rainforest on the valley floor.

the guide

Gil Jones trained as a geologist, specialising in Sydney sandstone. He has lived for over forty years in the Macdonald Valley exploring the rugged landscape on foot concentrating in the last decade on researching and writing about Darkinjung culture expressed in the rock engravings, cave paintings and place names of the surrounding country. Gil is joined by local historian Dr Bernadette Flynn who brings a rich knowledge of the public and social history of the Lower Hawkesbury river.

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