George Peat (1794-1870) was one of the first land-holders on the lower Hawkesbury. In 1843, with the help of the local Aboriginal people, he built a road along what is now the route of the Pacific Highway and established a ferry to cross the river between Kangaroo Point on the southern bank and his property "Fairview". As this new route was much easier to traverse than the Great North Road through Wiseman's Ferry, it quickly rose in popularity, so George established an inn to provide a stop-over at Peat's Ferry.
The opening of the railway between Sydney and Gosford saw road traffic diminish to the point where the ferry was discontinued, but it was revived in 1930 as an interim crossing while the adjacent road bridge, now known as the Peats Ferry Bridge, was being built. This photo, taken in the 1930s, shows the two ferries George Peat and Francis Peat in operation from the wharf that was just below this cache.
Courtesy of City of Sydney Archives & History Resources
Construction of the bridge began in 1938 but wasn't completed until 1945, after which the ferry service ceased. In 1973, the adjacent six-lane motorway bridge was opened and forms part of the M1 between Sydney and Newcastle.
The themed cache is located near the summit of the hill in Deerubbin reserve, with views down over the river and road bridges. Sadly the reserve has become something of a rubbish dump over the years but the area around GZ is reasonably clean. A track from trailhead T1 near the fenced gravesite leads up to the summit. A spoiler photo of GZ is included in case you get stuck.
The logbook's container (a small Sistema) is magnetically attached to the cache's main body; please return it that way. A pencil is included.
Congratulations to 4Rods, the first to catch the ferry!