Pittwater

General Information

Pittwater lies 30km (16 nautical miles) north of Port Jackson (aka Sydney Harbour), it is 8 kilometres long and 2 kilometres wide (at the widest part). It is an arm of Broken Bay the waters are generally deep and protected.

History

It is thought that Pittwater has probably been inhabited for around 40,000 years but it wasn't until the 15th of May 1788 that it was given the name Pittwater (after the British Prime Minister William Pitt the Younger).
Captain Arthur Phillip R.N. (Governor of the new settlement of Sydney Cove) coined the name in a letter to Lord Sydney. It seems he didn't bother to ask the Garigal people what they had been calling for the previous 38,000 years.

Click here to read the letter.It's more interesting than it sounds!