In 1823 John Oxley was the first European to see the Tweed Valley, and he wrote of it: “A deep rich valley clothed with magnificent trees, the beautiful uniformity of which was only interrupted by the turns and windings of the river, which here and there appeared like small lakes. The background was Mt. Warning. The view was altogether beautiful beyond description. The scenery here exceeded anything I have previously seen in Australia.”
Oxley was sailing up the eastern coast of Australia from Sydney in search of a penal settlement site “for difficult convicts”. Sailing further, they decided on Redcliffe, part of now Brisbane (perhaps explaining something of the Queensland culture of today).
In Oxley’s later Report to the NSW Governor, he wrote:
“From observations… discovered that high lands of Mount Warning discharged waters into sea by considerable stream … Had not time to proceed up beyond a few miles… sufficiently far to perceive river had source west of Mount Warning. Country appeared good, abounded with fine timber.”
