‘The Hawkesbury Monster’ was discovered by local cryptozoologist and author Rex Gilroy in the 1965, although the origins of the creature lie in the Jurassic period alongside the dinosaurs.

According to Mr Gilroy, the monster is thought to be a plesiosaur, a long necked marine reptile with four flippers apparently rendered extinct over 65 million years ago.

During his research, Mr Gilroy has uncovered several fascinating accounts.Indigenous settlers of the1880s told stories of women and children being attacked by the ‘Moolyewonk’ or ‘Mirreeular’ meaning giant water serpent.

The legend next surfaced soon after WWII, when Douglas Bradburyn went fishing with a group of friends at the mouth of the Hawkesbury River in Broken when a creature rose six metres above the water. Startled, the men dropped their rods and rowed frantically towards the shore. A similar creature was seen one August afternoon in 1979 by bushwalker Rosemary Turner a few kilometres west of the Hawkesbury River Bridge. Through her binoculars, Ms Turner clearly saw a pair of humps rise out of the water and flippers move below the surface.

Later that year a ‘monster’ became trapped in the Nepean River at Yarramundi not far from the junction with the Hawkesbury following a period of severe flooding.

Similar tales emerged in the 1980s involving fishing boats found mysteriously overturned after reportedly being thrown through the air with the occupants nowhere to be found.

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