Cockatoo Island |
Cockatoo Island is Sydney Harbours largest island and Australias most unusual urban park - a heritage-listed island steeped in history.
Cockatoo Island is located in the centre of the beautiful Sydney Harbour, at the junction of the Parramatta and Lane Cove rivers. The Island has served through time as an an Aboriginal fishing ground, an imperial prison, a quarry, an industrial school, a girls reformatory and a naval dockyard,
Cockatoo Island still retains many remnants of its past. Its prison buildings have been nominated for World Heritage listing, along with other convict sites around Australia. Large workshops, slipways, wharves, residences and other buildings retain the texture of the islands industrial past.
Always a Sydney landmark, Cockatoo Island commands magnificent views of Sydney Harbour. A regular ferry service to the island allows visitors to explore this intriguing place at their leisure. The island boasts a campground and a cafe, and regular exhibitions and art installations are a common feature.
There are three ways to explore Cockatoo Island. You can pick up a free brochure and take a self-guided tour; hire a headset ($5) and follow an audio tour; or book ahead (8969-2100) and join one of the guided tours. Each takes about an hour and a half.
The Cockatoo Island Guided Tour costs $18, departs at 11.15am on Sundays and features some great examples of Sydneys early colonial history. This tour tour also departs at 1.15pm, except for on the first Sunday of the month, when it is replaced by the Convicts of Cockatoo, and the third Sunday of the month, when it is replaced by the Ships of Cockatoo.
Some features of Cockatoo Island worthy of exploration are the Turbine Hall, the Tunnel/Bomb Shelter and the Old Dock.
The only way to get to the island is by ferry, water taxi or private boat, with overnight stays possible, either at one of the 135 unpowered campsites, or in one of the two federation cottages.
Please visit the Cockatoo Island website via the link below for more information.
❊ Address ❊
⊜ Cockatoo Island Sydney 2000 View Map
℅ Warrane
❊ Web Links ❊
➼ Cockatoo Island
➼ www.cockatooisland.gov.au
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