This week, Roy decided it was time to enjoy a quiet meander in beautiful, natural surroundings. Roy was heading into the North Sydney area though, so he knew he would have to look carefully to find the perfect place where he could walk and almost forget he was close to the city. Eventually we decided that Tunks Park and Flat Rock Creek in the Willoughby area would be perfect.
If you would like to visit Tunks Park and Flat Rock Creek, it is located in Cammeray, not far from North Sydney. To get there, continue along Strathallen Avenue, across the suspension bridge, and then turn into The Boulevarde. Continue along Rowlison Parade until you reach Vernon Street and from there turn into Brothers Avenue. You should now be able to find somewhere to park. Alternately, you can turn from Strathallen Avenue into Cliff Avenue and then follow Lower Cliff Avenue to Brothers Avenue. There is plenty of room to have a picnic, run off energy, kick a ball or just enjoy a walk along the creek! There is also a fabulous children’s playground to explore and enjoy.
Tunks Park, named after William Tunks (the first Mayor of St Leonards), is a foreshore park which has long been the centre of sports in the area. With fields catering for cricket, football, soccer and even school carnivals, it is a popular place for not only organised sports, but for more informal games. The sports fields themselves were created in the 1950s, when the creek and mudflats at the top of Long Bay were reclaimed. The fields were named the Falcon Memorial Playing Fields, in memory of the soldiers of the First and Second World Wars. However, the history of the area surrounding Tunks Park goes back much further. There are shell middens and rock art sites in the area which show that the local Aboriginal people, the Cammeraygal people after whom Cammeray is named, used the creek and tidal flats for food and water.
After European settlement though, the area around Flat Rock Creek became heavily used. Rock was quarried from the area for use around Sydney, and in building the piers for the suspension bridge which spans the park. The soils around the creek were also found to be rich and fertile and quickly orchards and market gardens began to appear, many of which were operated by the Chinese. There was even a piggery, the ruins of which can still be seen if you walk the entire length of the creek. Of course, the creek was also picturesque, with cascades and a magnificent waterfall, and many came to the area to enjoy the beautiful scenery. Then, in the 1930s the beautiful waterfall which had been so popular with picnickers, was designated as a rubbish dump. The Walter Burley Griffin Incinerator could not cope with the amount of waste, and tonnes of rubbish was tipped into Flat Rock Creek Gully, right up until 1985.