Slightly more about Cooks River than you probably expected.

 It is a presumption that the Cooks River is in fact Cook's river; the "pleasant stream" that he thought would water a new colony and which had effectively vanished when the First Fleet arrived. It seems a perfectly reasonable assumption, but the foreshore in the 18th century was extremely swampy so other watercourses may have temporarily existed. I haven't myself checked, but I assume that it's perfectly possible to exclude the other major rivers (Georges & Hacking) based on Cook's log. The Georges river looks like a much better bet for a colony to me; it's significantly larger.

The internet disappoints with Cooks River information; Canterbury City Council website has the best potted history; Marrickville City Council is the current home of the activist community groups driving a lot of the reclamation activities. The photo above is looking upstream (west) from the Illawarra Rd bridge. On the right bank, a little bit further around the bend, is the golf course. The left bank features a broad cycle/pedestrian path running to Canterbury & is a popular recreation spot. There's a lot of dense accommodation in Marrickville & the public space is well used. I don't know if it's possible to enlarge this photo (*it is - double click on it), but it's possible to make out the tops of the concrete banks that define the (artificial) current course of the river. There have been many engineering efforts imposed on the river over the years - these banks date from the 30's, so far as I can work out.

Heading East, i.e. downstream, this handsome former railway bridge has been taken over by high pressure oil/gas pipelines. It's possibly not at its best in this picture; on Sunday AM it looms up suddenly in the gloaming (can you have gloaming in the AM & if not, what is the dim pre-dawn/post-dawn ambiance  called?*) just at the start of the regular run when everyone is still feeling fresh enough to appreciate it.
[* Dawn, apparently. Twilight possible but obsolete for the AM. Gloaming is strictly PM]

A lot of work has gone into replanting the banks in the last fifteen years; it didn't look this good when we moved here.

 

 This escarpment is on the left hand side of the path of from which the above picture was taken. The escarpment runs continuously all the way to Tempe, where it stops suddenly at the Princes Hwy (possibly the effect of dynamite). It emerges from the spur on which Marrickville Rd. runs - well, "spur" may be a little grandiose. Anyway, Sydney sandstone, in its native state. (I took this while actually moving, so it's not entirely in focus)

Due to the wonders of perspective, here we see the Bayview St bridge in the foreground - rather an optimistic name, although the street does actually start climbing up the Bardwell escarpment so once there may have been an actual, as opposed to a real estate agent's, bay view - and a brand new train crossing the railway bridge in the background, maybe half a kilometer away.

There's been a lot of high density accommodation (beyond the train) approved along the Princes Hwy & Marsh St (Airport Drive). Still, through the trees and across the river, it doesn't seem too ugly.

Same bridge, different angle. The Canoe Club was either founded by, or served as a stamping ground of, Paddy Pallin. I thought it was just a brand name for outdoor gear, but no, it's also the name of an Australian "adventurer". It's still active, although one, not very, and two, mainly with kayaks not canoes. Liz and I have launched from here, but never seen anyone else on the river. In fact, in several months of running along here, I've seen one kayak. It's a waste. There is  a monthly kayak trip, apparently, organised by the Wolli Creek Supporters Association, but I don't think it can be very popular.

This is the Wolli Creek entrance; there's plenty of reclamation/greening going on along it as well. There's a lot of pleasant parks, integrated quite well with the ends of residential suburban streets. Eventually it turns into some pretty wild/untamed/natural bushland vegetation which makes for good cross-country running. On the left is the railway bridge which previously featured the train. It's low tide, perhaps not the most picturesque time of day.

This is Tempe station, which I haven't quite captured photographically as I see it in my mind; it needs a wider angle lens to get in the twin footbridge accesses and a car eraser to eliminate the foreground (which isn't usually there at 6:30 am on Sundays). In the nineteeenth century this would have been a busy weekend station as the Cooks River was, at that time, a major boating & bathing destination. Letters to the editor were penned indignantly in the 1870's protesting at the nude bathing. Hence, "rude colonials", I presume.

Just past Tempe station, you can almost see (I could see, in real life) the incoming tide meeting the current to give this extra frisson of turbulence - it's normally a very, very placid river. You can see the mangrove roots in the mud on the far side; at low tide the swamp smell, in places, is pretty noticeable.

Low tide - I don't think I've ever seen this island before. The view is to the south west; it's pretty remarkable that in the inner suburbs there is a view so unobstructed by human constructions. In some ways the above pictures over-represent the built; up to here the overwhelming impression along the river, walking, running, riding, is of a natural - managed, but natural - environment. That's about to end, because we're coming up to the Princes Hwy bridge.

The bridge (not worth a picture) marks the end of the "old" Cooks River. Past the bridge the banks become straight lines, mainly (I assume) as a result of the airport building, one side effect of which was moving the mouth of the Cooks River 1.5 kilometers south.

To wit: one airport building. To my right out of picture is the rowing club - I may have only seen one kayak, but I've seen NO rowers - I guess this might have been the major recreation reserve of the 19th century. It's difficult to see where else they would have fitted a lot of people, and it's a trivial 19th century walk to Tempe station. The bridge in the background is Airport Drive. I have an idea the building is the new international terminal parking lot. Channel markers mark a channel for the power boats that use this as access to Botany Bay. Again, I've only ever seen one boat using it. Mind you, most of them aren't "toy" boats & professional fisherman keep very uncivilised hours.

This is the companion (north-facing) view for the previous picture. That's the marina for the fairly serious - small, but well used - fleet. If you use your imagination you can see the city to the left.

No more mangroves, it's the Sydney rock oyster. Mind you, no-one is eating these, no matter how hungry they are. Nobody knows, or, no-one is admitting, how polluted this water is, but even though some people are brave enough to fish in it, no-one has ever been seen harvesting the oysters.

There's a crab in this picture (possibly more than one) if you look hard enough.