There’s an image that appears in my mind’s eye whenever people start talking about Australia Day.

It’s a big sandstone rock, shaped like a grey crocodile’s snout, projecting out into dense green bushland.

It was one of our favourite places back in the 1950s when we lived in the Sydney suburb of Sylvania, which, as its name implies, had lots of trees.

Before it was overwhelmed by suburban sprawl, Sylvania was a wonderful place for kids to roam around, explore and play all day.

Like Christopher Robin at Pooh Corner, we had our own names for geographical features – Rum Jungle was what we...