After many years of planning (read getting around to it) today being such a lovely day I decided to head to Cockatoo Island. Please be sure to leave a comment right down the bottom of the page.
Cockatoo Island is a UNESCO Heritage Listed island located in Sydney Harbour between Balmain, Woolwich and Drummoyne.
Access is only available via ferry so I started at Rydalmere and caught the ferry towards Circular Quay in the city and got off at the island.
The island is made up of park land and heritage industrial buildings, many of which you can walk around inside of. There’s also cliffs, boardwalks and tunnels.
You’ll find a visitors information center and two restaurant/cafes at either end of the island. There’s also plenty of facilities for campers such a showers, a cinema and even a tennis court. There are tents setup near the ferry wharf which can be hired for “glamping”.
Cockatoo Island Information Center
Camp Ground
On a Sunday there were quite a lot of people around. You can take a self-guided tour or just walk around freely (which is what I opted for). Exploring the whole island takes up a whole day especially if you want to explore inside all the buildings.
I ate lunch at the cafe closest to the Ferry Wharf and it can be quite busy. The food is also expensive and not really that great although the staff were super friendly. Expect to pay a lot to feed a family. You can always take along a picnic lunch and barbeque facilities are also available.
Cafe
Triple B Burger from Cafe
Once you get up the upper part of the island there are many more places to explore including a museum.
There’s also a few boardwalks which go around the cliffs offering a great view of the city and Sydney Harbour.
Sydney Harbour Bridge
Be sure to leave yourself a lot of time at the end of the day to get a ferry off the island. When I headed back to the wharf at around 4pm the line was around 200-300 meters long with people waiting and each ferry only taking about 20-30 people. I also had to catch the ferry back to the city (Circular Quay) and then get another ferry up river back to Rydalmere (Parramatta) which took q ite a long time.
For more information head over to the official website at www.cockatooisland.gov.au
For more photos take a look at the gallery below:
