Historic brochure tells of Woy Woy

Following is an excerpt from a tourist handbook of the Hawkesbury River and North Coast Lakes District, published by the NSW Government Tourist Bureau in 1909. It is reproduced from the web site of Woy Woy Local History Research Group at www.terrigal.net.au/~history/1909-1.htm

After leaving Wondabyne Station, the southern end of the Warrawolong Range is pierced by a tunnel about a mile in length, said to be the longest in Australia.

On emerging from the tunnel, a fine view is obtained of Woy Woy Creek and Brisbane Water, of which the former is a tributary.

The surroundings are most picturesque - a veritable wilderness of palms, ferns, and flowering shrubs.

The line proceeds through a densely-wooded country which on approaching Woy Woy thins out considerably.

The matchless beauty of the landscape in this portion of the State, the charm of swelling hill and sylvan valley, of precipitous cliff and rocky gorge, of grassy upland and impenetrable masses of forest, is enhanced by the presence of picturesque creeks, romantic bays, and broad sheets of glittering water, the whole presenting a series of magnificent spectacles.

Boatmen meet all trains, and will convey parties at reasonable rates to the various fishing grounds and a good day's sport is always assured.

Furnished cottages, boarding-house and hotel accommodation are available.

Ferry launches ply to all parts of Brisbane Water, on which Woy Woy is located.

Most of the accommodation-houses have their own launches or boats, meeting visitors, if required, where there are not regular ferries.

Brisbane Water is a broad extensive estuary of the Hawkesbury River, into which it discharges near the mouth at Broken Bay.

Owing to the bar, only vessels of light draught can cross in.

The whole of its shores are occupied by houses, principally boarding-houses, furnished cottages, or week-end camps, while the waters throughout afford excellent fishing, and during the summer season are alive with all manner of craft filled with holiday-makers; while in the winter visitors are induced to spend their week-ends there, the climate being particularly mild and good sport always obtainable.

Shooting may be had in the hills around where wild flowers grow in great profusion.

Blackwall is one mile away, Davis Town three, and Kincumber six miles, served by a regular line of ferries; fares, 6d each way.

Launches may also be engaged to take picnic parties or fishing parties around the various resorts.

After leaving Woy Woy, from a succession of small cuttings in the spurs of the hills, further glimpses are caught of the noble expanse of Brisbane Water, round which the line is ultimately carried by a bold curve.

Brisbane Water at this curve presents a view of special beauty.

On the right a wide expanse of water, having the aspect of an immense lake, sparkles in the beams of the summer sun; on the left, hills of rugged outline clad with green of many shades; in front, the shore consists of gently undulating ground, with cottages nestling under its slopes.

A building every now and then gives variety to the scene.

This locality, which may be reached in two hours by rail from Sydney, now that access to it is so easy, has become a favourite resort for persons desirous of getting away for a few days from the heat and dust and oppressiveness of the city.

Point Clare, on the shores of Brisbane Water, of which it commands an extensive view to Gosford on the north and Woy Woy on the south, and at the edge of natural bush which clothes the hillside with a dense green, was not long since an isolated platform, but is now a popular tourist resort, with ample boarding-house accommodation, and attracts many visitors, induced not only by its advantages as a quiet holiday spot, but by its extensive facilities for shooting and fishing.

The climate of Brisbane Water is most equable.

Its proximity to the ocean and its hilly character conduce to a phenomenal rainfall, and at the same time tend to equalise the temperature.

The salubrity of the climate was aptly illustrated by a local clergyman, who stated that during a residence of a couple of years he had baptised 82 children and buried only four.

Brisbane Water, with its effluents Cockle Creek, Woy Woy, Erina Creek, and Narara Creek, forms a most lovely and picturesque locality.

Besides this immensely varied inlet, a chain of lagoons stretches along the coast - Cockrone Lake (McMaster's Lake), Bulbararing Lake (Moore's Lake), Wamberal Lake, Tuggerah Lakes (a chain of three lakes, in all 20 miles in length), and Lake Macquarie, constitute this the most beautiful lacustrine district of the State.

Tourists could spend an interesting month in exploring these lakes and the intervening beaches.

The dense jungles of tropical brush at Kincumber, Narara, Ourimbah, Wyong, and Jillibi Creeks, are the haunts of the magnificent lyre-bird (menura superba), the most wonderful mocking-bird extant, the wonga, brown-crested flock, and a large variety of other pigeons, the bower-bird, cat-bird, regent-bird, parrots, cockatoos, gill-birds, and other members of the feathered family.

The lakes are alive with waterfowl and fish.

Of vegetable products, the eucalypti form the chief of the forest species, but the various brush timbers, including the red cedar, rosewood, and beech, are to be found.

Of palms, the cabbage-tree, bangalow, and burrawang palms grow in thick forests.

Tree ferns, staghorns, rock-lilies, waratahs, and orchids are in abundance; mosses, lichens, and numberless lilies, flowering plants, and shrubs of exquisite form are everywhere found.

The Brisbane Water district was settled early in the history of the state.

[Note: 1823 -- the first settler was James Webb at Blackwall, Woy Woy.]

Some 50 or 60 years ago, Mr Hely, a superintendent of convicts, obtained large grants of land there and formed a homestead.

Several other grantees took possession of their lands and, by aid of convict labour, cleared and cultivated part of their holdings.

But the extremely irregular communication with Sydney rendered agriculture unprofitable, and the encroachments of dense undergrowth on the naturally-grassed lands gradually caused pastoral pursuits to be abandoned.

The timber trade became almost the sole resource of the people, and has supplied profitable employment for a limited population till the present time.

The facilities for communication with the metropolis supplied by the railroad are now inciting agricultural pursuits, and a considerable number of orchards are springing up in the district.

During the progress of the railway works, an old lake or estuary bed, filled with compacted mud forming a shale, was cut through in a quarry at Gosford, in which great quantities of fossil fish of unknown species were embedded.

The SS Woy Woy runs every Tuesday and Friday at 8am from the foot of Erskine St for Gosford and Woy Woy, calling at Merritt's Wharf (Cockle Creek), Blackwall, Green Point, and New Brighton, or elsewhere as required; fares, 2s 6d single, 4s return.

The SS Erina also leaves Russell's Wharf, at the foot of Bathurst St, at 7.45am on Thursday, picking up passengers at Dawes' Point, if signalled, at 8am; fare 2s 6d return.

Dinner may be obtained at Gosford, and the steamers arrive back in Sydney about 7pm

If desired, the alternate route by rail may be availed of, and a beautiful round trip completed.

Woy Woy Local History Research Group