An Overnight Stay on Cockatoo Island, Sydney, Australia

20 Jan An Overnight Stay on Cockatoo Island, Sydney, Australia

A family member gave us a wonderful Christmas gift, a sleep over with four of the grandkids on Cockatoo Island.

The only way for us to get to Cockatoo Island is to catch a ferry, either from Circular Quay or from Barangaroo. And because we didn’t want to pay for car parking in the city, we caught a bus (with grandkids) from the Northern Beaches to Wynyard, walked from there to Barangaroo’s wharf area and caught the Ferry.

Apart from a change of clothes etc, we carried food for dinner, as the cafes close at 4.30 pm.

There is a reason Declan is missing from this 2nd photo. He was wandering around the wharf testing how close he could be to the edge, without falling into the water. He’s a smart and loveable kid, who needs to test everything … including me.

We had lunch at this cafe before setting off to explore the island.

“Cockatoo Island was the site of a convict gaol from 1839 to 1869 and a major shipbuilding and repair facility from 1857 to 1992, and dock workers supported the Allied powers during both World Wars. Additionally, between 1871 and 1911, the island hosted educational institutions for boys and girls. These included an industrial training school for girls, a reformatory for young women and nautical school ships for boys.” (cockatooisland.gov.au)

The island’s perimeter is at sea level while the interior is a sandstone plateau. as shown in the following photo. Obviously excavation work was carried out on the north side at some stage to increase the perimeter area. Two chimneys can be seen towards the top right of the photo. These belong to one of the island’s houses.

Apart from the industrial facilities, there are several residential buildings. One of these, a sandstone structure, is being used to display historic photographs. We found this building after walking around the island and through the tunnels.

We had arrived on the island around 11 am, but unfortunately had to wait until 3 pm to enter our accommodation. We were all a little tired after carrying our bags while exploring in heat of the day. So we were pleased to find a shady spot in front of the gallery where we rested until check in time. Just before 3pm Maggie, Jamie, Keilah, and Declan walked back to the island’s reception building to check in. Tom and I stayed in the shade to mind the bags. I made several photos from this location.

Apparently this and the other dwellings were built in 1916. While we occupied 24A (as shown in photo above), 24B (not shown) was unoccupied.

All of the photos in this blog were taken with my iPhone 8 Plus, because I couldn’t carry my trusty Sony A7 III, as well as my back pack and the food ‘esky’. I mention this because the photo below shows why I prefer a ‘real camera’; my iPhone can’t capture enough information to render the contrast in the sky. So, rather than showing a smooth graduation from dark to bright, there are distinct steps (lines). The small amount of post processing I did has slightly exaggerated this.

After a hot day it was a very warm night inside number 24A, as there is no air-conditioning. Instead it offers rather large and noisy fans in each bedroom. While these are helpful

prior to bedtime, they are not compatible with a good nights sleep. To be fair, 24A is a beautiful dwelling, tastefully decorated and furnished, offering 5 bedrooms, all of the kitchen ware and appliances required, several large screen TVs, two lounge rooms, two bathrooms, a laundry, gas BBQ and an outdoor setting with folding umbrella. Did I miss anything? …. AND lovely views to the north and west.

After breakfast I had time to take a few more snaps.

There is a lot more to see and do on Cockatoo Island when staying on the Island or during a day trip.

Thanks for viewing. Stay safe and catch up next time.