This is another cache in my Ïn Memory Of" Series that recognises Cachers who have contributed to developing Geocaching to the south of Sydney. You have completed the JIBBON ROCK ENGRAVINGS AND HEADLAND LOOP TRACK Adventure Lab and Homer wants to take you back to an old cache location by Usat31 so you need to obtain some information from my log in that archived cache.
This option for a cache Puzzle came about because I didn't fully understand the rules to place an AL Bonus and forgetting where WP's are for an active Multi in the area.
Bundeena is the starting location for the JIBBON ENGRAVINGS and LOOP TRACK Adventure Lab. The original inhabitants of the area were the Dharawal people who lived here for thousands of years prior to white settlement. The village is named after the local Aboriginal place name, said to mean either 'daughter from the hills' or 'noise like thunder' (the latter is presumed to be a reference to the sound of the waves crashing on Horderns Beach).
The first whites known to have entered Port Hacking were English explorers Bass and Flinders, in 1796. The shallowness of the Port and their inability to locate fresh water sources led them to disregard it as a potential site of settlement. It is said that 'rum runners' (producing sly grog for sale in Sydney) used the caves around Cabbage Tree Creek.
The first official settler at what is now Bundeena was Owen Byrne who was granted 400 acres in 1832. Maianbar developed from an 1841 land grant made out to George Newcombe. In 1863 George Simpson was granted 50 acres at Bonnie Vale, adjoining Bundeena. His son, William, built Simpson's Hotel on what is now Simpsons Bay in the 1870s. 1879 saw the declaration of Australia's first (and the world's second) national park to the immediate south of Bundeena. In 2007, great grandson Homer took ownership of a fantastic location by placing GC15RJJ (Geocache) in the area and today it and Usat31 are remembered by this cache.
The wharf at Bundeena, originally known as Yarmouth Wharf, was built in 1890. Some of the construction work involved the utilisation of local quartzite (formed as a result of a volcanic intrusion), which had also been used by the Dharawal. The wharf was the subject of some controversy as it then served no practical purpose and it was built by the NSW Minister of Public Works who had an interest in a real estate company which planned to sell local land. This led to a public backlash and the NSW government was compelled to investigate the misuse of public money. The wharf was rebuilt by the local council in 1920 because the Cronulla-Bundeena ferry had commenced in 1915. The first store in the area did not open until the early 1930s, a public school was not established until 1949 and Bundeena Road was not constructed until the 1950s.
Today Bundeena has a population of around 2000 (1919 at the 2016 Census). It offers a small haven of peacefulness within view of the city. It has two playing fields and tennis courts but essentially offers access to some pleasant natural attractions.