T
he 1841 route of the old Wool Road primarily
follows an ancient Aboriginal pathway from
Nerriga to the coast.
Aunty Julie Freeman, a Gorawarl/Jerrawongarla
woman who lives at the Wreck Bay Community near
Jervis Bay, reveals, “For our people the road signifies a
songline connecting the coastal people to the mountains,
a pathway for trade, marriage and ceremony.”
While there are significant Aboriginal sites along the
road such as the Jerrawangala Lookout, according to
Aunty Julie the really special places are down sidetracks.
“Those side roads go to the real important places, secret
places where a lot of ceremony was held,” she says.
For her two children, Markeeta and Clive, the Wool
Road is of added spiritual significance.
“Their father came from the mountains, so that
pathway is part of who they are,” explains Aunty Julie,
who recently helped her children create a traditional
possum-skin cloak featuring the Wool Road songline.An ancient pathway
Since buying the Nerriga Hotel six years ago, Sarah and Phil Smith have
given the old pub new life (above); the most intact section of the original
Wool Road is near Nerriga (top right); part of the original Wool Road was
blasted through Bulee Gap in the mid-1800s (below); Aunty Julie with a
traditional possum-skin cloak with the Wool Road songline (bottom right).
September. October 119Thankfully, these days there’s no longer a need to duck under
stray bullets when pulling up a bar stool in the historic watering
hole, owned and run for the last six years by Phil and Sarah
Smith, a couple of enterprising 30-somethings who live on site
with their two young children.
“We almost dish out as many meals now as beers,” Phil says.
“One of the first changes we made was to add a family friendly
beer garden out the back.” And child friendly it most definitely
is, complete with a giant blackboard for kids to doodle on.
While it’s now the main pit stop on the Wool Road, especially
for land-locked Canberrans making annual pilgrimages to the
coast for some saltwater therapy, this bush pub is also a popular
haunt for those eager to connect to their past.
“Soon after we took over the pub we noticed a bloke and his
dad would come in about once a year and buy two schooners
and a middy,” Phil says.
“While drinking their beers on the front verandah they’d
pour the middy on the ground.
“At first we thought the beer must have been bad,” Phil says,
laughing. “But it turns out the pop’s ashes were scattered under the
hotel so they come every year to have a beer with their pop.”