The name of the sculpture originated in an essay by historian Rhys Maengwyn Jones: "…the "discoverers" struggling through the surf were met on the beaches by other people looking at them from the edge of the trees.

[1] Thus the same landscape perceived by the newcomers as alien, hostile, or having no coherent form, was to the indigenous people their home, a familiar place, the inspiration of dreams.

[citation needed] Laurence invited Aboriginal artist Fiona Foley to collaborate with her to directly respond to the culturally charged symbolism of the site.

Natural and cultural histories are evoked by the names of botanical species carved or burnt into wooden columns in both Latin and Aboriginal languages, along with the signatures of First Fleeters.

As the work is designed not to be viewed from a distance but experienced up close as part of the sensual and spatial encounter, the audience are invited to touch and run their fingers along the engraved names and to feel the textures of the different materials.