Cattai National Park, Heritage Horse Troughs and a Walk to Poetry Rock – 31 July 2025

Sydney and been going through a period of wet weather, and Bob and myself decided to take advantage of the rain by looking for some Aboriginal engravings. These engraving are often very faint and extremely hard to discern – but the can change when the rock is wet, and also during winter when the Sun (if there is any) is low. So we decided on a second visit to Cattai National Park on the Hawkesbury River and we had a few options for more activities to fill out the afternoon. One was a walk from Bowen Mountain, along a ridge to Poetry Rock, a lookout above the lower Grose River.

Cattai National Park

Bob and myself had visited Cattai National Park before and found a number of Aboriginal sites – but these were almost all sharpening grooves. Now, with a bit more research, we found we had missed some engravings.

Bob first parked near the old farm buildings at the top of the hill.

There were lots of Eastern Grey Kangaroos about –

We then followed the path to the lookout. The National Park has a lot of nice trees, but it also has a lot of weeds.

The lookout is above the Hawkesbury River.

We soon found the rock outcrop we were after. Its main engraving is a kangaroo.

Even with the rock wet, it was hard to see. But by changing angles, we could see parts of it better. Below – you can easily see the head on the right.

On the same rock is another engraving. No ones seems sure what this is –

Then we walked back to the farm buildings.

The Eastern Grey Kangaroos were still around –

One had a joey –

We then drove down the park road a bit further and atop at some large rock outcrops. This was were we had seen sharpening grooves before, but had missed some engravings. The outcrops are on both sides of the road.

There were certainly plenty of sharpening grooves –

Bob also spotted this engraving. It seems to be a male human figure with arms outstretched, although only one arm is clear.

More sharpening grooves –

And this is another human figure engraving. It is ver hard to discern with the rock covered with lichen. The two legs are the easiest things to see. This one was mentioned in our notes, but the previous one wasn’t.

And more sharpening grooves –

And another engraving we had been looking for, a sailing ship.  Bob also spotted this –

There is supposed to be a second ship engraving under this one, but harder to see. All we could see were some more lines. These engravings document early contact between Aboriginals and Europeans.

With a bit of Sun out, we went back to the first human figure. It was clearer –

And a bit further down the road – another site. We found more sharpening grooves.

This site also has a Kangaroo engraving, but we could not find it.

The reference we used was “Sydney’s Aboriginal Past” by Val Attenbrow.

Cattai Bridge Reserve

Bob had heard about some more Aboriginal heritage at this small reserve which is next to the National Park. We crossed the bridge and parked.

The reserve has a number of scar trees. These are all Paperbarks.

Heritage Horse Troughs

These were convenient to visit, both being nearby. The first was at Pitt Town, next to the pub. It was a Bills Trough.

The second, was at Clarendon, at the race course. It is another Bills Trough and still seems to be connected up to the water main.

Poetry Rock

I had wanted to visit this lookout, overlooking the lower Grose River for a while, but it is too short for a full day, but ideal for the time we had left. We drove up to Ben Mountain and traveled to the south end of Lieutenant Bowen Drive where we parked. We then set off a fire road out to Poetry Rock. The rock is not marked on the topo maps, but is marked on Open Street Maps.

it was a pleasant walk out along the ridge.

There were quite a few cycads –

At the end of  the fire road, you follow track for a few hundred metres to the vantage point. It is a good lookout.

We could look south to Grose Head South, the Grose Valley. But closer was the gorge of Burralow Creek and Paterson Hill.

We had lunch at the lookout, and then it was time to walk back.

Boronia sp.

Grevillea sp.

Eastern Yellow Robins

Bob then drove to the north end of Bowen Mountain and we visited the Crago Observatory. 

Operated by the Astronomical Society of NSW, named after Marion and Jack Crago, active members of the society, who had suggested the location on Bowen Mountain and left a bequest to the society. They were members of the Crago flour milling family – see for example an old mill just west of Newtown Station (now repurposed as residential).

Two Crago brothers came to Australia from Cornwall and they set up flour mills in NSW. I had read about one of the grandsons – “Allan Crago”  in a chapter in “Blue Mountains Byways” by John Low. The story tells how Crago was accidentally shot in the kidney while hunting with friends in the Kedumba Valley. This was on Boxing Day, 1926. With no road access at the time, his friends ran out to get help. Fortunately , his family was wealthy (his father owned flour mills and his mother’s family were Hoskins – the steel magnates) and they could afford a surgeon and medical team to be walked down the steep pass to the valley and then they successfully operated to remove the kidney. The person involved was probably Francis Alan Crago (1910 to 2006). Another member of the family was Edward (Ted) Crago, who was a member of the Warragul Club (Bushwalkers).