In the Sutherland Shire 32 kilometres south of Sydney is a hilly tree-rich suburb on the edge of the National Park with an indigenous ring to it: Yarrawarrah. It lies next to Engadine with Heathcote and Waterfall further to the south. It takes one hour by train to get there (Engadine Station) or a bit less by road along the Princes Highway. The traditional inhabitants of Yarrawarrah are the Tharawal people. Below is a map showing the suburb near the bottom at the southernmost end of Sydney.
It’s hard to believe the difference when we escape from Coogee near the beach for a tree change in Yarrawarrah. The peace is palpable. Mark puts it down to all the oxygen floating in the air around us from the trees. I think, too, that there is an indigenous aspect to it. It feels like a sacred place, surrounded by gum trees above a deep gully, where you can find wetlands if you descend into it. Could it be that there were no massacres of indigenous people here as in other parts of the country? It feels that way. It’s great for meditating.
One of the streets near our daughter’s place is Bridgeview Road, named because there was a clear view of the Sydney Harbour Bridge from this road in earlier times. Today you can get a good view of the CBD skyline to the north with Centrepoint Tower a recognition point. When I walked around the area recently I noticed this and other interesting scenes and motifs that typify the area.
There’s something quirky about this place when you come across something like this, in the neatly kept streets, alongside the beauty of the native wildlife and nature in general.
Still, you can understand it, as people who settle here are probably those in need of more space to keep their pets, including horses to ride or boats as the case may be. Some of our neighbours are “horsey” people—like I was in my childhood— and keep horse trailers out the front in the street. Another quirky photo I took is of a tree with a trunk in the shape of a horse or donkey’s face.
Our daughter’s favourite time is dusk every evening when the white cockatoos fly along the valley from south to north as the sun sets in front of her to the west. The back of the house which is the “living part” faces the south/west and north so that there is sun most of the day and the sunsets are magnificent.
Here are two videos taken towards sunset.
Our grandson’s school Yarrawarrah Public is in walking distance. So too is Engadine High School which he will attend next year. The older boy goes to Healthcote High and stays with his dad who lives in Waterfall. The small Yarrawarrah shopping centre is also in walking distance form the house, but Engadine is better for shops.
