The first ferry across the Hawkesbury River was opened by ex-convict Solomon Wiseman ten years after he was granted 200 acres of river frontage in 1817, at the spot now known as WISEMANS FERRY . The crossing forged an inland connection between Sydney and the Hunter Valley via the convict-built Great North Road. Unfortunately, travellers on this isolated route were easy prey for marauding bushrangers and it was largely abandoned for the longer but safer coastal route. Today it's a popular recreational spot for day-trippers - just a little over an hour from Sydney by car, and with access to the Dharug National Park over the river by a free 24-hour car ferry. Dharug's rugged sandstone cliffs and gullies shelter Aboriginal rock engravings which can be visited only on ranger-led trips during school holidays; there's a camping area at Mill Creek (call Gosford NPWS on 02/4324 4911 for details of walks and camping; bookings for both essential at weekends and holiday periods). Open to walkers, cyclists and horse-riders but not vehicles, the Old Great North Road was literally carved out of the rock by hundreds of convicts from 1829; you can camp en route at the Ten Mile Hollow camping area.

The settlement of Wisemans Ferry was based around Wisemans home, Cobham Hall, built in 1826. Much of the original building still exists in the blue-painted Wisemans Ferry Inn on the Old Great North Road (tel 02/4566 4301, fax 9629 1757; pub $70-90, motel $50-70), with characterful rooms upstairs sharing bathrooms, and en-suite motel-style rooms outside at the back. Bistro meals are served daily and there's entertainment on Sunday afternoons. Just across the road, with extensive grounds fronting onto the river, is the contrastingly modern Retreat at Wisemans (tel 02/4566 4422, fax 4566 4613, www.wisemans.com.au ; B&B $150 and upwards), a 54-room resort. The upmarket motel rooms can't compete with the inn's colonial charm, but the location is suberbly scenic and facilities include a restaurant, golf course, tennis courts, swimming pool, in-house masseuse and bike hire; cheaper rates are available during the week. Other accommodation in the surrounding area includes Del Rio Riverside Resort (tel 02/4566 4330, fax 4566 4358, www.delrioresort.com.au ; en-suite cabins $90-115), a campsite in Webbs Creek across the Webbs Creek ferry, 3km south of Wisemans Ferry; facilities include a Chinese restaurant, swimming pool, tennis court and golf course. Better still is Rosevale Farm Resort , 3km along Wisemans Ferry Road en route to Gosford (tel & fax 02/4566 4207; on-site vans $35-50, en-suite cabins $50-90), with inexpensive camping and cabins - cheaper weekdays - in extensive bushland close to Dharug National Park. For considerably more luxury, check out houseboat rentals.

Taking the ferry across the river from Wisemans Ferry, it's a scenic nineteen-kilometre river drive north along Settlers Road, another convict-built route, to ST ALBANS , where you can partake of a cooling brew (or stay a while) at a pub built in 1836, the hewn sandstone Settlers Arms Inn (tel 02/4568 2111, fax 4568 2046, settlersarms@ozemail.com.au ; all rooms en suite; $90-115). The pub is set on two-and-a-half acres and much of the fruit and vegetables for the delicious home-cooked food is organically grown on site.