Walkway

A cracked concrete path winds into the bush at Waratah Park in Duffys Forest, NSW, flanked by a pile of dry branches and a thick mat of fallen leaf litter. Pale eucalyptus trunks rise through the middle distance, with patches of low green growth pushing up through the forest floor. The 12.6 hectare site meets the boundary of Ku-ring-gai Chase National Park here. Waratah Park occupies 12.6 hectares of Crown land at 13 Namba Road, Duffys Forest, adjoining Ku-ring-gai Chase National Park to the north and west. In 1967, the NSW Government granted Fauna Productions permission to occupy approximately 10 hectares of that land to build a television set. The production company, founded by Lee Robinson, John McCallum, and Bob Austin, constructed the Ranger Headquarters, roads, power and water connections, a helipad, and a helicopter-servicing area. Filming of Skippy the Bush Kangaroo commenced in May 1967. By the time production wound up in September 1969 after 91 episodes across three series, the show had sold to 128 countries and was reaching a reported weekly global audience of over 300 million. In December 1969, Warringah Council granted land use access for the site to operate as an animal park and entertainment area. The official opening as a public wildlife park followed in January 1970. Through successive operators including Waratah Park Pty Ltd from 1976 and Waratah Park Earth Sanctuary from 1995 to 2000, the site remained open to visitors for nearly four decades. The business failed in 2006 and the park closed. After closure, the Crown land lease was cancelled in 2010, and ownership transferred to the Metropolitan Local Aboriginal Land Council on 28 August 2014 under the Aboriginal Land Rights Act 1983. The site lies within the traditional lands of the Dharug-speaking Garrigal and Terramerragal clans. The Duffys Forest Residents Association has contributed volunteer hours to bushland restoration since 2011; Sydney Wildlife now operates a rehabilitation facility on site. This photograph, made in 2017, records a path laid for visitors to a place that was itself built to look like somewhere else. The bush it disappears into never required any of that. It was here before the cameras arrived and it is here still.