Little_Flatty Posted July 14, 2020 Share Posted July 14, 2020 Hi all, Listening to a fascinating conversation with scientist and indigenous elder Fran Bodkin: https://www.abc.net.au/radio/programs/conversations/fran-bodkin-hibiscus/11518746 She mentioned that the Georges River used to run out to the ocean at Cronulla! I can't seem to find any information about it. Looking at a map though, it doesn't take much imagination to see that it might have ran through where Greenhills is now. I'm assuming it was a long time ago? Anyone know about this? Mike 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kingie chaser Posted July 15, 2020 Share Posted July 15, 2020 (edited) If it ever happened you probably would be talking about 1000's of years ago, maybe more! If you want to go back far enough at one point Australia was also part of a single land mass called Pangaea that split to form the current 7 continents. At another point in history Australia was actually a few smaller land masses & water/sea covered over 1/2 the continent. So anything is possible. Edited July 15, 2020 by kingie chaser Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GoingFishing Posted July 15, 2020 Share Posted July 15, 2020 (edited) 16 hours ago, Little_Flatty said: Hi all, Listening to a fascinating conversation with scientist and indigenous elder Fran Bodkin: https://www.abc.net.au/radio/programs/conversations/fran-bodkin-hibiscus/11518746 She mentioned that the Georges River used to run out to the ocean at Cronulla! I can't seem to find any information about it. Looking at a map though, it doesn't take much imagination to see that it might have ran through where Greenhills is now. I'm assuming it was a long time ago? Anyone know about this? Mike Thats very interesting Mike - i assume if the Aboriginal elders alive today have records of this it is very recent - last 1000 to 2000 years and not back when Pangaea and the dinosaurs ruled the earth 🤣 The earliest satellite images available (publicly) of this area stop just south of Kurnell, the rest of Kurnell is whited out. Thats probably because of some type of military/naval infrastructure sat over Kurnell/Cape Solander perhaps? So there is no satellite images over this area. There is some satellite imagery over Green Hills in 1940 and it looks very similar as it is today, but as you say it is not hard to imagine that this is where Georges river would have spilled over into Bate Bay. Interesting to see what Botany Bay looked like before we built the airport & container port! Check out the original configuration of the cooks river !!!! Edited July 15, 2020 by GoingFishing 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GoingFishing Posted July 15, 2020 Share Posted July 15, 2020 Green Hills in the 1940s Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Welster Posted July 15, 2020 Share Posted July 15, 2020 The Aboriginal's have been proven to verbally pass stories through the generations with an amazing degree of accuracy for many thousands of years. It sounds pretty feasible to me. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jocler Posted July 15, 2020 Share Posted July 15, 2020 Lived at Kurnell for many years. If you dig down about 6 feet you hit water and the entire soil is loamy and has a lot of shell in it. When you look at the national park and up Polo Street and all the way out to the Lighthouse, it is all a lot higher than the surrounding area and clay/shale/sandstone type soils. Kurnell township is flat. A long time ago you would have to say that the National park and all the land to the south around Boat Harbour was an island with the Georges River emptying at the existing bay entrance and a delta area from Quibray Bay to the ocean where the sandhills are or at least were. J 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Little_Flatty Posted July 15, 2020 Author Share Posted July 15, 2020 Thanks all for their insights. I am even more intrigued now! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hoods Posted July 16, 2020 Share Posted July 16, 2020 I spoke to an Elder at Nambucca Heads a few years ago who said his people talk about other tribes coming from the east (ie where there is now ocean). The sand dunes at Crowdy Bay National Park are "only" 10,000 years old according to a then (c1995) Dept Lands scientist who was mapping the acid sulphate soils. Sydney Harbour was a riverine valley during the last ice age - only 20,000 years ago. So the Georges River would have continued well out past the current coast line during this period. I would believe the elders "lore" as we know bugger all compared to those that have been here for tens of thousands. I wonder if the undersea mapping shows the drainage lines like it does off WA?? 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kingie chaser Posted July 16, 2020 Share Posted July 16, 2020 For anyone who is interested? https://www.australiangeographic.com.au/news/2013/09/ice-age-struck-indigenous-australians-hard/#:~:text=A NEW STUDY HAS revealed,condensed into small habitable areas. 1 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SaltyGreek Posted July 18, 2020 Share Posted July 18, 2020 I found a website where it showed the old mouth of the Georges around the greenhills area while doing a geography assessment. It also mentioned that Kurnell was an island. I’ll try and find it and post the link 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now