The author recounts her memories of accompanying the photographer along the river and looks at the complex relationships between personal retrospection, collective memory and the record captured by the camera. The photographer explores the way of life of the descendants of pioneer settlers living near Sydney along an isolated tributary of the Hawkesbury River. This special book will appeal to admirer's of Axel Poignant's work, and social and art historians, and the many Australians with family connections to the Hawkesbury River.