Governor Phillip explores the inlets and branches of Broken Bay

Driven by the need to find good land for producing crops, Governor Phillip explores the inlets and branches of Broken Bay. He describes the land as “much higher than at Port Jackson, more rocky, and equally covered with timber”. He enters the Brisbane Water branch. The following year Gov Phillip again studies Broken Bay, but after the discovery of fertile flats around Windsor, little interest is shown in the north for many years. European occupation on the northern side of the Hawkesbury is also restricted as the government wants a buffer zone between Sydney settlers and the penal colony in Newcastle. This changes when the convict post moves from Newcastle to Port Macquarie in the 1820s. (Blair, 2003, 20-21).