Lost Sydney: Paradise Gardens, Cattai
Location: Paradise Gardens, Wisemans Ferry Road, CattaiParadise Gardens, alongside the Hawkesbury River at Cattai, was a prehistoric theme park on 388 acres of parkland, which operated from the early 1970s. A memorable feature of the park was its big concrete dinosaurs with the speakers in the grass, emitting pri-mordial sounds. A jungle boat cruise allowed visitors to see the many dinosaurs dotted around a lake. There was also a black tubular water slide that dumped riders into a dam. Other activities included tractor rides, open cave walks and swimming. The park had a large riverside picnic area with barbecues. Riverside Oaks golf course today occupies the site of Paradise Gardens. In fact the first nine holes at Riverside Oaks follow the old Paradise Gardens 9 hole golf course, though they had some significant improvements.
Paradise Gardens was built on the site of Bangool, an early colonial property established by George Hall, one of the Coromandel free settlers (see below) who was granted the land in the Hawkesbury River area in 1803. The property stayed in the Hall family until 1912.
In 1802 the Coromandel brought 128 male convicts to the colony without losing a convict life. This was the first group of convicts with all the skills desperately needed to make the colony self-sufficient. She also brought the first large group of free settler families, known as the Presbyterian Free Settler Group, who were mostly people with a background in farming. They were granted land to farm at Portland Head (Ebenezer) and Cattai on the Hawkesbury River. The ship's surgeon for the voyage was Charles Throsby, who remained in the colony as government medical officer. He later became an explorer of note.
Cattai is located 63 kilometres north-west of the Sydney central business district. Cattai is bounded in the west by the Hawkesbury River and is traversed by Cattai Creek to its confluence with the river. Apart from the natural endowments of the area, one of the outstanding landmarks is the brick farmhouse known as Cad-Die, located at the junction of Cattai Creek and the Hawkesbury River. This Georgian house was built in 1821 by Thomas Arndell, with further additions being made in the 1860s. It is now listed on the Register of the National Estate.