We start at the carriage loop – the curving gravel drive with its tall central bunya pine – where visitors have arrived at Vaucluse House for over 200 years. Your host, Robbie Buck, will provide some information about this tour of the landscape surrounding the harbourside mansion.
2. Welcome to Country
David Johnson from the local La Perouse Aboriginal community welcomes us to Country, and fellow Dharawal man Michael Ingrey talks about the meaning of the Vaucluse House estate – this place – to Aboriginal people of coastal Sydney.
3. Walk from bunya to gate
We now head down the carriageway to the old gates. Host Robbie Buck chats with MHNSW Curator Scott Hill about the distinctive bunya pines and the colonial history of the estate, including a convict knight and his innovative approach to repelling snakes, the origin of the name Vaucluse and the acquisition of the property in 1827 by William Charles Wentworth.
4. Beach paddock on Vaucluse Bay
The harbour was an essential part of life for Aboriginal people, as a source of food and a means of access to other areas of Sydney. David Johnson from the La Perouse Aboriginal community shares stories about the harbour’s significance to the local Aboriginal communities.
5. Beach paddock path to Coolong Road
We head west, past the clumps of giant bamboo in the beach paddock. MHNSW Curator Jacqui Newling talks about the importance of the harbour – including its once plentiful oysters – in the development of colonial Sydney.
6. Wentworth Road entrance and pleasure garden
With the bay behind us, we head south along a path that follows the line of the creek. MHNSW Curator Scott Hill takes us through the area the Wentworths called Frog Hollow. Then, crossing a bridge, we enter the pleasure garden, where we are joined by MHNSW Horticulturist Anita Rayner to discuss the garden’s many plants, the gardenesque style of landscaping and how this historic landscape is cared for today.
7. Verandah
Head up the path to the house, past the fountain and take a seat on the shady verandah to admire the view. MHNSW Curator Scott Hill and host Robbie Buck discuss the carefully created vistas that extend to and from the house, the concept of the picturesque and the famous wisteria that visitors flocked to see each spring.
8. Tearooms
Walk over the bridge and into the 20th century as we discuss how Vaucluse House became a museum, and how rising tourist numbers led to the building of the tearooms in the 1920s.
9. Kitchen garden
Discover the kitchen garden on the western side of the house and hear about its seasonal offerings – from the humble cabbage to pineapples, prize peaches and the exotic prickly pear. MHNSW Curator Jacqui Newling discusses how the garden is used as an educational resource today.
10. Looking towards the back of the house
If you stand under the shady fig tree, you can view the rear of the house – the servants’ domain. From here, continue along the path that follows the creek towards the south paddock. MHNSW Curator Jacqui Newling explains the types of servants that were employed at Vaucluse House, how they were housed and the duties they performed.
11. South paddock path to waterfall
As you walk through the south paddock to the waterfall, host Robbie Buck and Dharawal man Michael Ingrey talk about the lasting imprints made by Aboriginal people in the ancient rock face behind Vaucluse House, and the area’s ongoing importance for coastal Aboriginal communities. The conversation then turns to the creek as a vital water source for the estate.
12. South paddock pathway to the bridge
Wander back through the south paddock and learn more about how the Wentworths used this area from Lin Henry, an MHNSW Visitor and Interpretation Officer here at Vaucluse House.
13. Stables
Cross the footbridge to the stables, where we join MHNSW Curator Scott Hill to discuss how the stables building was an intrinsic part of the day-to-day workings of the estate. Then Dharawal man Michael Ingrey shares a very poignant story about an Aboriginal servant named Bobby, who worked for the Wentworths in the 1860s.
14. Carriage loop at bunya pine (end of tour)
To conclude our tour of the landscape at Vaucluse House, we return to the carriage loop, between the stables and the house.
