# data[].attributes.headline
"... grounded, in the midst of uncertainty"

# data[].attributes.subject
"... grounded, in the midst of uncertainty"

# data[].attributes.body
By Ann Fenton
Ever since we moved to Marrickville I've visited the river at least weekly, after discovering its proximity on my first walk in the local area. I've been delighted by a pelican gliding silently on the tide, and thrilled to see carp swimming below me as I leant on the bridge rail near the golf clubhouse. Both my sons, now living in rural NSW, were riverkids. When the COVID pandemic was at its height in Sydney, just to touch base with the river regularly made me feel grounded, in the midst of uncertainty.

# data[].attributes.body
By Zoë
Covid-19 lockdown will always include a wave of romanticism for me and my family, of our final months living in Marrickville by the Cooks River. My husband, preschooler daughter and I spent our days at home in our top floor unit and relished our visits to the river. What was once a weekly visit at most became a daily occurrence. From dodging golfers at the Marrickville Golf Course to get to the river, to loops past Tempe station and Steel Park, we covered all the areas we could within walking distance.

Our daughter finally came to love her balance bike during this time, doing long laps around the river. We started to learn more about the vegetation too, including warrigal greens and native grasses. Our playgroup even came up with a treasure hunt along some of the walks (find the landmark style).

Weekends could feel a bit overpopulated along the main river pathways as entire families of teens and their parents and dogs were suddenly everywhere on their bikes. Joggers sweating and coming a bit too close - however we mostly managed to keep our distance. We came to recognise faces and occasionally ran into people we knew (from a distance).

We were fortunate to have had the Cooks River so close to us during this time, as we couldn't travel far, and had nobody else to see. We made the most of its beauty and diversity until we moved an hour away from our inner west haven in May. A place of such diverse beauty.

# data[].attributes.body
Annamaria Tizzone

# data[].attributes.body
Annamaria Tizzone

# data[].attributes.headline
Magical colour palate of a Cooks River sunrise 

# data[].attributes.subject
Magical colour palate of a Cooks River sunrise 

# data[].attributes.body
Annamaria Tizzone

# data[].attributes.body
Annamaria Tizzone

# data[].attributes.body
Annamaria Tizzone

# data[].attributes.headline
Waking up with the magical light that lights up the Cooks River and the ambient birds song....

# data[].attributes.subject
Waking up with the magical light that lights up the Cooks River and the ambient birds song....

# data[].attributes.body
Annamaria Tizzone

# data[].attributes.body
Despite living only 10 minutes away from the river and spending all my life around the cooks river area, i've never actually walked along it. i always saw it as this odourous nauseating river that was polluted and had no life around.

but after the quarantine restrictions and the temporary close of gyms, i decided to venture out on walks along the river as my daily exercise. and was i surprised.

the wildlife that still thrives despite the obvious challenges. the cuckatoos with their intelligence seem to congregate on the tall steel powerlines 20 minutes before sunset. and those crimson and orange sunsets seen from the walkway bridges. oh how i discovered a beautiful gem that was lurking right by me my whole entire life.

i deliberately now try to walk along the river's banks as i head to canterbury station and shop. i don't think i'll be breaking my habits any time soon, even when the restrictions are lefted.

# data[].attributes.headline
🎵"Sitting on the docks of the Cooks River...." 🎶

# data[].attributes.subject
🎵"Sitting on the docks of the Cooks River...." 🎶

# data[].attributes.body
Live music on the Cooks!

# data[].attributes.headline
The Cooks River BIG little picnic #togetherapart

# data[].attributes.subject
The Cooks River BIG little picnic #togetherapart

# data[].attributes.body
The Cooks River has helped many of us during lockdown. With covid-19 restrictions still in place, the Cooks River Changemakers group have put a call out to be #togetherapart on our beautiful river.

The Changemakers invite you to bring a picnic lunch to your favourite spot on the river in groups under 10 maintaining physical distancing and hand hygiene. There is no set picnic location and no set lunch hour.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
The Cooks River has helped many of us during lockdown. With covid-19 restrictions still in place, the Cooks River Changemakers group have put a call out to be #togetherapart on our beautiful river....

# data[].attributes.body
By Bruce Andrew

The River named after a Captain, who was not, who lay claimed to land that was already possessed by others, who had already named the river, and used its resources for millennia and allowed it to remain clear and clean.

When I walked home from school I crossed the bridge, over the river, next to the old sugar mill. On one day I was throwing my school bag in the air and catching it. Caught by the wind it landed in the water and sunk. Maybe there is some remain still there now mixed with all the pollutants that have accumulated to such an extent that I am told if the river were dredged all the beaches from Brighton to Cronulla would have to be closed for two years. True?

What was the sugar mill, and is now units, when I was a case juggler was called the ‘Bacon Factory’ seems strange-- I thought factories made soap and gladwrap –factories should not make bacon?                       I  saw what seemed to be the remains of a horse float by.

Now there are mangroves and paths and people walking and hidden poison and contamination .The glory of regeneration is not able to remove the dangers of life times of neglect.

The river is the representation of so much history of this nation.

When the war to end all wars began in 1914 the river had seen a great deal, still does, always will.

For the first time since 1919 Anzac day had no march ( Spanish Flu! ) ;but Children with bugles, siblings with music, young men ( it seems, like those who they honoured ) still appeared on the closed beaches of Gallipoli and remembered those who ‘ grow not old’, candles in drive ways and on walls and painted Flanders’s poppies on a lawn showed that this Anzac Day and the response, could define what , apart from the original, could be explained as one of the most significant when we united in the face of severe danger and refused to be  bowed except in respect for those who could not march; some not   ‘wearied by age’ and others now to old .

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
"A very poignant moment yesterday morning (25th April) on the river at 6am.

A trumpeter played the Last Post from one of the units at Ewen Park. The sound reverberated through the valley.

Here and...

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Stingray spotted in the Cooks River near the River Canoe Club! Big thanks to local Stacy for her photo, super keen eyes 🧐 and self-professed highly advanced graphic skills! 🙃