Berry Isthmus and a Hami New Canal Here New South Wales, Australia
By No Tomorrow on 25-Dec-21. Waypoint GA25850

Berry: The surname of the fella who commissioned the creation of Australia’s first canal.
Isthmus: “a narrow strip of land, bordered on both sides by water, connecting two larger bodies of land”. (Dictionary.com). In this instance, a problem.
Hami: My abbreviation of Hamilton Hume who oversaw the construction of the above mentioned canal. Name sound familiar? He wasn’t famous just yet.



In early 1822 Alexander Berry and Edward Wollstonecraft were allocated 10,000 acres of land in the Shoalhaven area and 100 convicts to help work the land. So in June 1822 Berry sailed the cutter Blanche down the south coast to the Shoalhaven River. On 21st June 1822 they were going to attempt entering through the entrance at Shoalhaven Heads. Because it looked dangerous, 4 men volunteered to check if it was safe to pass through using the other small boat. It wasn’t. Their boat capsized and 2 of them drowned.

So Berry decided to go south another 10km or so and see if he could get in through the Crookhaven River. They were stopped some way in by an isthmus. There was a sand spit between what is now Comerong Island and where this cache can be found. Berry was determined to get through that day so he had the cutter dragged across the isthmus. Berry settled in at the base of Mount Coolangatta and then sent Hamilton Hume to go back to the isthmus, with a bunch of convicts and farming hand tools, to construct a canal. The canal was 191 metres long and took 12 days to complete. Australia’s first canal was constructed right here.

The river and water’s natural eroding effects has made the passage wider and deeper than the original. It now just looks like a natural entrance of the Shoalhaven River. In fact it is now. Originally the Shoalhaven River opened at Shoalhaven Heads. Since around 1910, thanks to this canal, it only opens there in times of severe flooding.

You can access Comerong Island by foot from Shoalhaven Heads when the estuary isn’t opened up to the ocean by severe floods, by your own floating vessel, or by car via the Cormorant ferry at the location of this geocache. The ferry is not always open, so if you want to check out the Island by car you’ll want to plan ahead and work around the weather. When this cache was placed it cost $10 to cross over, however it was closed to non-residents and guests, and Council say it is not expected to be till early 2022.

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