Voices from the River
SUNDAY 30 APRIL 2023
Enter into the enthralling world of Spencer, Hawkesbury River history with 4 unique experiences over 4 hours in one exciting package.
Our wonderful story tellers and performers will take you on an odyssey through the village, waterways and forgotten sites around Spencer. Enjoy lunch in the Thai garden or on the wharves.
Explore an antique road show, bodging wood turning demo, history yarns, and exhibits at the Hawkesbury Duck. Listen to live music, with sea shanties, Celtic songs and heritage boats on the waterfront.
Choose Your Own History Adventure
Select your favourite combination
Choose your favourite adventure set
from 7 different combinations
$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 !
Stories - Murder and Mayhem
Reimagining the murder and mayhem of Spencer in the 1800s when ‘Fernleigh’ was the site of illegal distilleries and the infamous Green Man Inn. 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. Relax on the veranda of the White House and gaze out across the river while our storyteller Max Burns-McRuvie evokes the atmosphere of this busy trading hub with its mix of free settlers, ticket-of-leave men, timber workers, ash burners and fishermen fuelled by ‘Hawkesbury Juice’ and insubordination.
Tours - Village Yarns
Jo Henwood storyteller extraordinaire takes you on a mystery tour of Spencer village with yarns - improbable, fabulous and surprisingly true! Hear about the forgotten histories of the 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.
Cruises - River Meanders
Join us afloat small party cruisers with our historian guides on a trip into the past. Hear about the 1804 attack by indigenous leader Branch Jack and his gang at Mangrove Flat. Meander to 'Gentlemans Halt' (reputed site of Governor Philip's overnight stay in 1789) and past the site of the Green Man Inn built in 1840 and the small river only access community of Marlow. Running alongside triangle Island we visit Ma Hanna's restored boatshed (the last boatshed accommodation on the river) and the site of Curly Kneebones shipyard yard where he built commissioned boats for locals on the river including Harpoo, Opoo, Shampoo and his last trawler Mermaid - when the river was the highway.
Burlesque - History With A Twist
Witness the delightful debauchery and transformation of the good woman of Popran Creek, Mary Murphy. Proper upright housekeeper and devout mother during the day and by night sassy minx makes her extravagant entrance to the shores of Mangrove Creek. Bringing the underbelly of history up the creek alive in another dimension we travel back to meet Mary Murphy in a theatrical extravaganza by supremo burlesque artist Sophie Cook aka Legs 11.11 for History with a twist. Be ready to be educated, enthralled, and entertained.
Geology - Deep History
Be entranced by the deep history of Hawkesbury Sandstone and the most ancient waterways of Dyarubbin. Walk along the waterfront 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.
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