'then' (Troy 1993:79) wurra 'mouse, rat' (Troy 1994:69) Oft-cited definitions like 'black rocks' find no support in the written records. Words for 'black', 'shark' and 'water' do not resemble any element of Woronora, though we lack a record for the Dharug words for 'rock', 'cliff', 'river', and 'creek', and thus cannot categorically rule these out. Guesses regarding the original form of the placename depend largely upon the degree of mishearing assumed to have taken place between the Aboriginal informant and the European recorder. Might a surveyor have missed a syllable in *wolaru-ngurra? Although English speakers frequently reproduced trilled rhotics as either /r/ or /l/ orthographically (Donaldson 2002:235), it is difficult to establish whether the name was misheard from Aboriginal sources three times (producing the Wooloo-, Wolo-, and Woro- variants), or whether the change in spelling was a product of changing European pronunciation without reference to Aboriginal people. The latter is quite likely considering that until the 1840s, and possibly beyond, it was the only official placename from the mouth of the river southwards (Dixon 1841), and thus must have been written and pronounced frequently in reference to a large area. Assuming therefore that the original placename most closely resembled Wooloonora, and acknowledging the inadequacy of our records due to language loss, three potential definitions present themselves: *wulan-ngurra 'rain place' *wolaru-ngurra 'wallaroo place' *wala-ngurra 'then place' Cultural information could be the deciding factor in defining Woronora''. Was there a Rain or Wallaroo Dreaming in this part of Sydney? Could reported dialogue of the Dreamtime ancestors make sense of 'then place'? Or was there another noun unknown to us relating to black rock/s? Unfortunately the consequences of colonisation for the Dharug people in terms of land loss, dispersal and language loss mean this will probably never be known. Geography The residential area of Woronora lines both sides of the Woronora River. The Woronora River Bridge is northern limit to residential housing. A footbridge crosses the river at the southernmost limit of housing on the western bank. The housing on the eastern bank continues beyond the end of Prince Edward Park Road, and some houses can only be reached by a walking track or by boat. The suburb is completely ringed by bushland, with only a single road providing access. Many think that this adds to the charm of the suburb which has curiously escaped the development that its surrounding suburbs have experienced.