Voices from the River
Upstream
SUNDAY 30 APRIL 2023
Step aboard and be taken back in time as you explore convict routes and the most important wharf on the Lower Hawkesbury River in the days of the mosquito fleet.
Pulling up at the Governors Halt, hear indigenous historical fiction evoking the 1830s and visit the site of the infamous Green Man Inn to delve into stories of hauntings, murders and mayhem with our expert tour guide.
Our historical immersion continues in the company of Emeritus Professor Grace Karskens as we travel upstream in conversation about the old land, people of Dyarubbin and sacred country.
Upstream
Forgotten Landscapes and Hidden Country
From Spencer -Greenmans, Gentlemans Halt and Riverlands
$160 for a unique four hour adventure package
01: STORIES + EXPLORE + THAI + BURLESQUE -10am - 2pm
02: TOURS + EXPLORE + BURLESQUE + PLATTER - 10am - 2pm
03: TOURS + EXPLORE + THAI + STORIES - 11am - 3pm
04: STORIES + EXPLORE + PLATTER + CRUISE - 11am - 3pm
05: EXPLORE + PLATTER + CRUISE + TOUR - 11am - 3pm
06: CRUISE + PLATTER + EXPLORE + BURLESQUE -12pm - 4pm
07:: GEOLOGY + EXPLORE + PLATTER + CRUISE - 12pm - 4pm
Each adventure package is strictly limited to twenty people. First in best dressed !
Rum and Ghosts at Greenmans
Voices from the The Lost Inn
Highlights:
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Visit the the site of the infamous Green Man Inn - the first inn on the river.
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Hear about the female apparition vanishing through a doorway at the inn and the ghostly ships seen at sunset with blood red sails at the mouth of Marlow’s Creek and why the Inn of the Damned was haunted.
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Walk along ancient tracks to the government wharf which helped feed the colony. frequented by free settlers, ticket-of-leave men, timber workers, ash burners and fishermen fuelled by ‘Hawkesbury Juice’ and insubordination.
At the Halt - 19century Village
Weaving the layered histories of 'Gentlemans Halt' punt track and from Mangrove Flats xx storyteller extraordinaire takes the lid off you on a mystery tour of Spencer village with yarns - improbable, fabulous and surprisingly true! punt across the river in the 1840s? for access to Sydney, 1830s read from Julie Janson's historical fiction of the Hawkesbury River. A late 19th Century village, Shakies orchard - the best orange orchard on the river floating store boats; rum and resistance; illicit couplings and secret babies. Hear the latest at the local pub The Dunkirk Hotel under a Mangrove tree and local anecdotes from the Hub of the Universe. Enjoy stories from up the creek as you navigate through Spencer's tales of enterprise and feats of daring-do along the last frontier and hidden waterways of the Hawkesbury River.
Historical Fiction Reading
Reading the words of Burruberongal woman Julie Janson - an Aboriginal perspective on the Lower Hawkesbury. Julie has granted permission for readings from Benevolence evoking the atmosphere and milieu of the early 1800s along the Hawkesbury River. Fictional characterisation of Muraging in her search for a safe place to call her home 'She remembers there was a time when she had been a child of moonlight and rivers, when she glimpsed the power of the great serpent eel' . An Aboriginal experience of early settlement and 1830s read from Julie Janson's historical fiction of the Hawkesbury River.
A Place called Dyarubbin
A place called Dyarubbin - travel upstream with Emeritus Professor Grace Karskens, author of People of the River for other ways of knowing. Be entranced by the braided histories of the old land of Dyarubbin and the uses of land - from yam digging to wheat early flat rocks ridge and the 13 sites spread across the plateau Be entranced by the deep history of Hawkesbury Sandstone and the most ancient waterways of Dyarubbin. Travel upstream with Emeritus Professor Grace Karskens, author of People of the River on a journey into the deep past of old land and first people. Hear about when ancestral Dyarubbin was a large sandy river within Gondwana and how the people of the river used and understood the landscape of this sandstone country.
Archaeology artefacts
Digging the past and reading the evidence - Bondi points, xx
Crafts and Stalls
Enjoy live performances; 'antique road show'; exhibition, and historical encounters on the waterfront and locations around the village. Bring your mystery object for valuation at Spencer's 'antique road show' by Hannah Clayton Atkin of Swan Deverell auctioneers. Explore history at the Hawkesbury Duck museum - hear about where the dead were buried; what was on the colonial plate, and tales tall and true from another time. Live music on the waterfront with sea shanties and heritage boat spectacular.
Feasting
Feasting in Spencer :
From the Spencer Thai, chef's specially selected menu lunch in the Thai Garden created from local and seasonal produce. Or from the Deli - fresh platters and grazing table on one of Spencer's wharves with magnificent views towards triangle island and the Hawkesbury River.
TICKETS
Adventure 06 12pm - 4pm