Latest technology traces oldest road

Peter Mooney with a book written on the "Oldest Road".

The expedition retracing "The Oldest Road".

THE latest technology has been harnessed in the battle to have one of Australia's oldest roads nationally heritage listed.

Known as the Throsby Track, the route is the first European road into the Illawarra, but its origins are much older. For tens of thousands of years before white settlement, Aborigines trekked the route between the Woronora plateau and Illawarra region.

An expedition retraced through escarpment rainforest the original route of the Throsby Track recently placing it on a global positioning system (GPS).

"The GPS will be used in our argument for heritage listing," bush regenerator and local historian Peter Mooney said.

Mr Mooney has walked the track several times and has an intimate knowledge of its stone retaining walls and winding wheel ruts.

He was asked to help retrace the historic route in efforts to have the track protected and recognised. Mr Mooney said the track was used extensively by the people of Sherbrooke a fruit growing and timber-cutting village at Bulli Tops to access the coast early last century. Prior to Throsby opening the road to Europeans, the Aboriginal population had used the route for thousands of years ," Mr Mooney said.

"Dr Charles Throsby was shown the route down the escarpment at Bulli by local Aborigines in 1815 and the trail became the access road into the Illawarra for the following 30 years until other mountain passes were built," he said.

"The trail is generally considered Illawarra's oldest road. But it could hold a stronger title than that. It could be one of Australia's oldest roads.

"It has heritage value well beyond the age of European settlement. One possibility is to open it up to the public, but it is not the key aim of the walk. The key aim is to get some recognition and give it some long-term protection."

Among the expedition retracing the Throsby Track was local historian Joe Davis, who walked the route as a primary school student 40 years ago.

"The two-hour walk revealed large trees with deeply etched grooves from ropes used to lower carts and other goods down the steep incline," Mr Davis said.

"The track takes walkers through some great stands of non weed-infested escarpment forest and this complements the historic values of the site," he said.

Other walkers on the expedition included the secretary of the Illawarra Escarpment Coalition June Pronk and conservationists Peter Marsh and Jill Walker.

"My personal interest was basically in the exciting idea that there may be an Aboriginal heritage track recognised on the Illawarra Escarpment in Bulli," Mr Marsh said.

"This track leading to Sandon Point is a bonus, plus the fact that the walk crosses the Wharton's Creek catchment which is the upper reaches of the creek system that our Bushcare group has been restoring since 1998."

Ms Walker said the track began a little south of the top of Bulli Pass and would have ended fairly close to an Aboriginal women's site near Sandon Point.

"Aboriginal women elders have recently walked in the forest and declared it is a sacred place, saying Queen Emma of the Gundangarra tribe walked down the dreaming track to Sandon Point for ceremonies."

The group will now make a formal application to state and federal government agencies to have the Throsby Track nationally heritage listed.