Enjoy the views of the Bridge as you wander round. Make sure you collect a map from the Visitor Centre by the Wharf where the ferry stops and plan your tour, pick up an audio tour guide if you wish. I am glad to visit this heritage site during my short 5-day stay here in Sydney.Ī 20 min trip across the harbour from Central Quay brings you to Cockatoo Island, a UNESCO World Heritage Listed site. As I wandered around the island, I could literally hear the cries and groans of the convict ghosts and that of the aborigines who were the original inhabitants and forced to be deprived of their homes and incarcerated when the British colonialists subjugated the island under their control. The campsite allowed adventurers to stay overnight on the island. The island is small like that of Kusu Island in Singapore and is very walkable though many of the old prison cell buildings are on the upper side of a hill slope. The eerie Dog Leg Tunnel which was used to transport resources and used as a bomb shelter during the World War made me shivered as the cold wind stirred its way in the tunnel. As such, we observed there were steel beams, Turbine Shop and remnants of some of the heavy machineries in the Industrial Precinct and the Ship Design Precinct. During the First World War, it was the dockyard of the Australian Navy, and several slipways were constructed. Shipbuilding on the island began in 1870. The island has a remarkable history as a shipbuilding and ship repair facility. Many lived in extremely cramp and unhygienic conditions and many perished and died of infectious diseases as a result. The convicts were forced to work in harsh conditions on the island sandstone quarries and as construction workers for the Fitzroy Dry Dock on the island. The island is notably surrounded by shark infested waters which made it difficult for the convicts to escape. Convicts were shipped here from Great Britain to be confined in solitary cells. This island is a rare UNESCO World heritage site renowned for her historic heritage site as a ex-convict penal establishment between 18. There must be something fascinating here to attract visitors and we quickly made a prompt decision to alight at this island and postpone our river cruise. We were on a ferry cruise to Parramatta, appreciating the beautiful skyline and gorgeous coastline of Sydney harbor and that of the suburban when I noticed many passengers alighted at the jetty of Cockatoo Island. If you wish, you can spend the night on the island in either in one of the houses or apartments or one of the “glamping” tents. Several buildings and exhibits on the grounds as well as two tunnels used to transport prisoners and goods from one end to the other end of the island were interesting. The boys were assigned throughout the island for a variety of jobs. Interestingly, there was a ship moored that was home to orphan boys. Convicts built prison barracks, grain storage silos and perhaps, most important, built the dock and maintained it for use by the British Navy and other ships such as battleships and submarines. Learning the history of how it came to be a “penal colony” was quite interesting. We took the self-guided audio tour to explore the island. Named a UNESCO World Heritage Site, the island was a convict jail, a reformatory and industrial school, and a shipbuilding yard. A unique combination of history and easy to discover, I rate Cockatoo Island among by best ever Sydney experiences and will have to go back to use the camping facilities one day!Ī short ferry ride from Sydney, Australia’s Central Business District will take you to Cockatoo Island, the harbor’s largest island. Most of the buildings (especially those from the 20th century industrial era) are not open so it is definitely a place for soaking up atmosphere rather than reading things or looking at display cases. The highlights for me were the solitary cells beneath the main buildings of the main convict buildings, the grain silos dug out of the island by hand by the prisoners and the absolutely immense Turbine Shed and other huge buildings near the Sunderland Dock where the shipbuilding took place in the 20th century. It took my just under 2 hours to follow the entire audio tour route with a few pauses along the way to enjoy the spectacular harbour views and catch my breath. The $5 audio guide from the information centr was the best value audio guide I have had anywhere: not too much ino, not too little, just enough to understand what you were seeing, what role it played in the past and what made it noteworthy. Easily accessed by harbour ferry from Barangaroo, Cockatoo Island brings together Australia's convict and industrial heritage in a single place where you can wander around and soak up the history at your leisure. I feel that Cockatoo Island deserves many more visitors than it currently gets.
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