About Briar
Briar Jensen is a Sydney-based freelance travel writer. Her blog covers travel tips, reviews, insights and inspiration, travel accessories and gadgets.
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Meet Solomon Wiseman, pioneer, inn keeper and ferry master, after which this tiny town on a bend in the Hawkesbury River is named. He is the inspiration and main character of Kate Grenville’s novel The Secret River. I loved learning more about him and the area in Grenville’s companion book, Searching for the Secret River, which describes her research. And the ferry service he started is still going! #wisemansferry #kategrenville #hawkesburyriver @visitnswWhat’s around the next corner? Kayaking up Webb’s Creek, off the Hawkesbury River at Wisemans Ferry I couldn’t help but think of Kate Greenville’s book The Secret River. How remote this must have felt for the early settlers. Thanks to @hawkesburyhouseboats, who also hire kayaks and runabouts, I was able to explore the creek for a couple of hours in the company of ducks and a white-faced heron. So what’s around the corner? More of the same! #hawkesburyriver #ilovesydney #kayaking #astw_incAlways love this view of the Hawkesbury River from Hawkins Lookout before the descent into Wisemans Ferry. Twisting and turning more than 120kms to Broken Bay, the river was known as Deerubbin by the local indigenous people, meaning wide, deep water. So close to Sydney it offers an ideal weekend getaway. #wisemansferry #deerubbinSay hi to Bib and Bub, gumnut babies, found in the garden at Nutcote, the #sydney harbourside home of Australian children’s author and illustrator May Gibbs, which I passed on my recent walk from Taronga to Kirribilli. Now a beautiful museum, the home sheds light on May’s life and work. The home was also used in the film Ladies in Black as Magda’s harbourside house. #nutcote #maygibbs #ilovesydney #astw_incThe views of Sydney Harbour on the Taronga to Kirribilli walk range from vignettes to vast vistas. Such an easy an interesting walk. @sydney #ilovesydney #sydneyharbourFantastic #harbourwalk from Taronga Zoo to Kirribilli along the waterfront. So many beautiful parks, like Anderson Park, with these majestic #palms. #ilovesydney #astw_inc- My Tweets
Category Archives: Hawkesbury
Do Sydney’s Great North Walk one leg at a time
Fancy tackling the Great North Walk from Sydney to Newcastle, but don’t have the time to do the full 260km in one thru-hike and/or a bit nervous of getting lost along the way? That’s exactly how I felt. Billed as Australia’s … Continue reading
Posted in Australia, Events, Great North Walk, Hawkesbury, National Parks, New South Wales, Travel, Walking
Tagged Day hikes, day walks Sydney, Great North Walk, national parks
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Postcard of the week – Hawkesbury
I was eagerly anticipating the television mini-series of Kate Grenville’s bestselling novel The Secret River, a story of conflict between the First Australians and early European settlers, which recently aired on the ABC, both to see how the story played out … Continue reading
Posted in Australia, Hawkesbury, National Parks, Postcards, Sydney, Travel
Tagged Australia, Cowan Water, Hawkesbury, Hawkesbury River, Ku-ring-gai Chase National Park, sydney
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Gift an experience: 10 Sydney experiences to inspire, excite and thrill
Can’t think of a gift for that special someone? Then give them an experience they will remember long after the Christmas tree has dropped its needles. Here are ten Sydney experiences for the grandkids to the grandparents, the adventure-lovers to … Continue reading
Posted in Adventure, Animals, Australia, Hawkesbury, New South Wales, Segway, Sydney, Travel, Travel Accessories & Gadgets
Tagged animal parks, family fun, Hawkesbury, jet boating, sailing, Segway, sydney, travel
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Sandstorm of Fairytales & Fables in Windsor
The Pied Piper of Hamelin, Narcissus, Gollum, Icarus and other fabled creatures have come to life under the shady jacarandas, oaks and pepper trees on the banks of the Hawkesbury River at Windsor, in Sydney’s northwest, for the 2nd Hawkesbury … Continue reading
Posted in Australia, Hawkesbury, Sydney, Travel
Tagged family fun, Hawkesbury, sand sculpting
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Ballooning in the mist
It might be the middle of winter, but getting up early and rugging up for a hot air balloon flight has its rewards as my son and I found out this morning on a flight over the Hawkesbury Valley with … Continue reading
Posted in Adventure, Hawkesbury, Sydney, Travel
Tagged family fun, Hawkesbury, sydney, travel
4 Comments
Pick me! Bite me! (Hawkesbury Farm Gate Trail)
‘Bite Me!’ screams the shiny red gala as I pluck it from the tree. I oblige, crunching into the crisp white flesh, juice dribbling down my chin. The flavour is far sweater and fresher than any store-bought apple I’ve tasted recently, … Continue reading
Posted in Food & Wine, Hawkesbury, Travel
Tagged Farmgate, Food and Wine, Hawkesbury, travel
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Sleeping with pioneers
I love it when people are passionate about what they do, and there are plenty of passionate people in the tourism industry. But there are some people whose personal commitment outshines others and Joyce Stepto is one of them. For a start, she … Continue reading
Posted in Accommodation, Hawkesbury, Travel
Tagged accommodation, Bed and Breakfast, cancer, Hawkesbury, travel
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