It is now 10 years since Michael Keats and Brian Fox, and more recently joined by Yuri Bolotin, embarked on an ambitious plan to explore and document The Gardens of Stone National Park and adjoining areas. This project has involved documenting all aspects of a little known or appreciated area, from the geology, the climate, the fauna and flora, Aboriginal occupation and early European settlement and record these findings via a series of books. Each book has a major theme and also includes a selection of relevant bushwalks. To date seven of a planned nine books have been published. The area of detailed exploration and research encompasses the gazetted Gardens of Stone National Park, the northern part of the Blue Mountains National Park and the western side of the Wollemi National Park. This area is so vast that nine topographical 1:25000 maps are required. Between the three of us more than 3000 bushwalks have been undertaken and still there is more to explore. A significant part of this undertaking has been to research and record all geographical names. The major theme of Book 5, is Place Names. For each entry we have recorded the name, the origin, location, description and GPS coordinates. Since the publication of this book, research has continued, generating many new names to the point where it was deemed another approach was needed to further publicise both approved and new names to a wider audience. The concept of the Bush Explorers Encyclopaedia was born of this need....
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Book 7 in the series, The Gardens of Stone National Park and beyond, is principally about the last three centuries of European occupation of the area. It includes stories of such iconic engineering feats as the Wolgan Valley Railway, The Newnes Industrial Complex as well as follies such as the proposed Wollemi International Airport and a 6000MW power station at Birds Rock. Previously unpublished historic photos are included together with interviews involving descendants of some of those men and women whose parents and grandparents were directly involved. It is a book of contemporary history, warts and all. One of the most amazing stories is that of the construction of the dam on the Bungleboori Creek. Although very much of our recent past, the pictures tell stories about changes to Work Place Safety while at the same time revealing just how much our lauded, second to none, pioneering resilience has been lost. Perhaps the greatest challenge documented in the book is the story of the telephone services that connected Newnes to the outside world. Michael, Brian and Yuri, along with bushwalking colleagues walked many tens of kilometres following residual evidence of the original poles and wires that have survived the depredations of bushfires, storms and souvenir hunters. There are also many great walks, principally along the southern escarpment of the Newnes Plateau from the Darling Causeway to Hassans Walls. The case for the entire escarpment with its rich natural, Aboriginal and European heritage should to be declared a national park as...
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