Кейра тауының қасиетті маңызы және тарихы

Mount Keira is a site of significant cultural heritage for the Wodi Wodi people. The name Mount Keira derives from the Wodi Wodi name for the mountain, Geera or Djera. The first maps of the area called it Keera, later adding the 'i'. Mount Keira forms a part of the Illawarra escarpment, all of which is sacred land to the Wodi Wodi people of the wider Dharawal language group. The suburb of Mount Keira, a semi rural township of Wollongong, located on the mountain's summit and southern flank. The summit of Mount Keira has an elevation of above sea level that is located northwest of the city of Wollongong. Its distinctive shape and proximity to Wollongong make it a major local landmark. It is noted for the views of the city from the popular summit lookout and its history of coal mining. It was formed as part of the Illawarra escarpment fold between 80 and 60 million years ago and the erosion by creeks that ensued.

Mount Keira is located on the traditional lands of the Wodi Wodi people, who form a part of the larger Dharawal language group. Archeological evidence shows Dharawal people have occupied the Illawarra for at least 30,000 years. Patterns of use have been recorded in oral histories, physical features and written records.

According to the Alcheringa, the dreaming of the local Aboriginal peoples, Mount Keira is Geera, the daughter of Oola boola woo, the West Wind. The story of the creation of Mount Keira is tied to the creation of the Five Islands, which sit just off the Wollongong coast. In the story, Oola boola woo had six daughters, Mimosa, Wilga, Lilli Pilli, Wattle, Clematis and Geera. They lived a top the Illawarra escarpment, and one by one the first five children misbehaved, raising the ire of Oola boola woo, who cast them and the stone beneath them out to sea, forming the Five Islands. Geera, who was now the only child left on their escarpment home, had no one to play with and no one to talk to as her father was often away. Geera spent all day sitting, hunched over and watching the camps of the local Aboriginals and looking out to sea to her five sisters. Eventually, she turned to stone, dust and leaves building up around her until she became a part of the escarpment. She is known today as Mount Keira.

Mount Keira has been recognised as one of the most significant educational resources and teaching sites to the Dharawal people of the Illawarra region. Today, this is reflected in some of the major educational institutions of the Illawarra including the University of Wollongong, Wollongong TAFE, Wollongong High School and Keira High School sitting in the shadow of Mt Keira. Mount Keira demonstration school is a small public school that lies at the base of the mountain.

Mount Keira has been described as the Uluru of the Illawarra, due to its deep cultural significance. There are currently plans for Mount Keira to be further developed for adventure tourism. These plans for further development have caused some contention in the Indigenous community, who want to ensure the site is respected as a place of spiritual and historical importance.

Mount Keira forms part of the Illawarra escarpment which it joins by a high saddle on the back (western) side. It is capped by a westward sloping plateau of relatively hard sandstone ringed on the remaining 3 sides by cliffs. From the cliff base the mountain slopes down to the surrounding foothills and coastal plain. From Wollongong, the mountain looks rather flat topped; while from the north it appears part of the escarpment. The majority of the mountain is forested with eucalypt (sclerophyll) forest and sub tropical rainforest, while civilisation encroaches on the lower slope regions. Surrounding suburbs are (from north to south): Balgownie, Mount Pleasant; Mount Ousley; Keiraville; West Wollongong; Figtree and Mount Kembla. The mountain is drained by several creeks, and has many gullies on its slopes such as the ones present on the ring track and the one directly south of the mountain known as Hell Hole after an axe murder by a convict who dispatched a labourer known as Old Tom in Byarong Creek. The south and western slopes are drained by Byarong Creek which flows west of Byarong Park before descending to Figtree and then to the sea. The eastern slopes are drained by creeks that flow into Para or Fairy Creek which flows through the Wollongong Botanic Gardens before arriving at Fairy Lagoon at Puckeys Estate Reserve. The northern slopes are drained by Cabbage Tree Creek. Mount Ousley Road climbs up the northern spur and over the escarpment and is the major road link between Wollongong and Sydney. On the road is the small suburb of Mount Pleasant. At Mount Pleasant is the Illawarra Rhododendron Park, located on Parrish Avenue near the start of the Mount Pleasant Track. It contains thousands of azaleas and hundreds of rhododendrons as well as camellias. A section of rainforest is located in the top section with short walking trails. The park covers
On the southern side, Mount Keira Road leaves suburbia and winds its way through the bush up the back of the mountain, giving access to the (now closed) Kemira coal mine, Byarong park, Girl Guides camp, Scout camp, and ultimately the summit lookout via Queen Elizabeth Drive. The Scout camp was established in 1939 by Sid Hoskins and later described by Lady Baden Powell (wife of Lord Baden Powell, the founder of Scouting) as "surely one of the most beautiful campsites in the world". Mount Keira Road was built using convict labour in 1835–1836, surveyed by Surveyor General Thomas Mitchell, using much of the route used by O'Briens Road but descending the south and west slopes of Mount Keira rather than Mount Nebo, a nearby hill to Mount Keira's south. Byarong Park was originally a pit pony grazing area, the ponies were stabled at the site of the Girl Guide camp.