Picnic Grounds

The picnic grounds at Waratah Park occupy a clearing within 12.6 hectares of bushland at Duffys Forest, NSW, on the edge of Ku-ring-gai Chase National Park. Picnic tables and benches remain in place, arranged across ground that has not seen regular use since the park closed in 2006. Leaf litter covers the surfaces. Vegetation presses in from every edge, advancing across what was once maintained open space. The site began as a television production location. In 1967, Fauna Productions received permission to occupy approximately 10 hectares of Crown land for the filming of Skippy the Bush Kangaroo. The Ranger Headquarters was constructed that year, along with roads, power and water connections, a helipad, and access to adjacent national park land. Production ran until September 1969, across 91 episodes and a feature film. In January 1970, Waratah Park officially opened to the public as a wildlife park. Animals on display included kangaroos, koalas, dingoes, emus, and wombats. Visitors could also view the interior of the Ranger Headquarters, preserved as the television set. The picnic grounds and undercover barbecue area were part of the tourism infrastructure built to serve that audience. Management passed to Waratah Park Pty Ltd in 1976, and the park operated under the name Waratah Park Earth Sanctuary between 1995 and 2000. The business failed in 2006. By 2010, all wildlife had been removed from the site. Ownership transferred to the Metropolitan Local Aboriginal Land Council on 28 August 2014 under the Aboriginal Land Rights Act 1983. The site lies within traditional Garrigal and Terramerragal clan lands. This photograph from 2017 records the picnic grounds as the bush moves back through them. The tables are still standing. The canopy is closing in. The clearing is contracting, season by season, around furniture that has no more visitors to seat.