Sydney Harbour Map and information
This map shows the main arms of Sydney Harbour, and provides information about a few key features.
If you have Netscape 2 or higher, you will be able to click on some parts of the map to access linked information. This may or may not work with other browsers.
1: North Head
Like South Head, Middle Head, and Dobroyd Head, North Head has long been preserved as part of the military defences of Sydney. The military mind is now aware that artillery is of little use in protecting Sydney from enemy attack, and most of the areas of unspoiled land have now become part of the Sydney Harbour National Park.
North Head was badly damaged during the 1950s and 1960s, and the National Park area is now undergoing careful repair. There are level scenic walkways (wheelchair-suitable) to viewpoints looking out to sea, up the coast to Long Reef and beyond, or out across Sydney Harbour, spectacular sandstone cliffs, birds to be seen in the heathland, and many species of flower in bloom, all the year around. There are even a few bandicoots, the last in the catchments of Sydney Harbour, all the rest having succumbed to traffic, feral predators and habitat loss.
2: Dobroyd Head
Dobroyd is a mixture of heathland and dry sclerophyll, and as this was first written in May 1996, it was a riot of winter wildflowers. There are places where you can photograph twelve species in bloom at one time in midwinter, and I counted no less than 35 species along one trail one day in May. (Update: the November count was 25, and we are still above 20 in March, with the autumn species just breaking into bud, April gives us 25 species in bloom.) The area was burnt out in 1990, when a small deliberate fire was appallingly badly handled by the local fire-fighters. I watched them arrive and muddle for an hour, but the end result was a good clean burn that set the bush up for a new cycle -- our Australian bush needs fire to maintain itself.
I photographed the fire, and there is a pointer to one of the more spectacular shots further down this page.
There is a scenic driveway around the top of the headland, there are bush tracks to walk, beaches ad rocky foreshores to potter along, and parks to wander.
On top of the headland, there is a large playing field -- hockey in winter, cricket in summer, kites, with dog exercising and running all the year around.
3: Circular Quay
A silly name when you think about it: how could a Quay be circular? It never was, but it was once more or less semi-circular, back in the 1850s, when there were no bridges, and suburban people relied on ferries to get to and from the city, when Manly was a village where people holidayed, far from the madding crowd.
Now, of course, Manly is full of bustle, and so is Circular Quay. Buskers work all along the foreshore as tourists stroll around to the Opera House, and on to the Botanic Gardens (120 bird species), or around the other side, past the Museum of Contemporary Art, into the historic Rocks, towards the base of the Sydney Harbour Bridge.
There are some pictures of Circular Quay scattered around this site or the College one -- I will insert a link to them some day soon.
4: Manly Beach
Even on the last Sunday in May (when this was first written), there will be several hundred people at the beach. Most will wear wet suits, and stay in the water for hours, riding their boards into shore, others will still be swimming. And why not? After all, the water is 21 C, about 70 F, so when the sun is out and the breeze is gentle, out they go!
You get to Manly by ferry or car (parking is often a problem), walk down the Corso to the surf, and dive in. But PLEASE! swim between the flags -- we don't like losing people . . .
5: Bondi beach
Bondi beach is the one that tourists hear about. Yes, it's nice to say you have been there, but Manly is nicer, and it is easier to pronounce.
We'll get back with more when we think of something nice to say about Bondi. Don't hold your breath.
6: Homebush Bay, Olympic site for 2000
Once a rubbish dump, now being transformed into a brilliant sporting venue, Homebush Bay is an object lesson in urban reclamation. There are mangroves on the foreshores, many birds, at least five species of frog, native mammals and reptiles abound, and while the politicians are already squabbling about the costs, we look like being ready in four years, when the world drops in for some running, jumping and hurling of inanimate things.
Why do they do it? The runners go around a circular track and end up back where they started, the jumpers just keep going back and forth, and the hurlers never manage to hit anything. . .
7: South Head
South Head boasts two lighthouses: Macquarie Light on top, and Hornby Light, down on the point. There is only a small amount of bush there, but the views are excellent, and so is the seafood at Watson's Bay, close to a bus stop and a weekend ferry wharf!
Not numbered: Middle Head
Just below Dobroyd Head on the map, and facing the open sea, is Middle Head -- again, part of the Sydney Harbour National Park. The main defences of the port of Sydney were here, and the area is riddled with tunnels leading to observation posts.
Why did Sydney have so many defences? That's a story that will have to wait for another day. Most people believe it was fear of the Russians at the time of the Crimean War, but there was actually more fear of the Americans!!! In particular, it was fear of Charles Wilkes.
Not numbered: Middle Harbour
To the west of Manly, an arm of the harbour runs between Dobroyd Head and Middle Head, almost to the top of the map. This is Middle Harbour, an area which still has many wild and inaccessible parts. Once again, much of the bush is now controlled by the National Parks and Wildlife Service, so it is ours in perpetuity.
Every few years, bushfires break out in Sydney. We are unusual as world cities go, for there are patches of wilderness, forest, bush, right through the settled areas. There is also wildlife, right in close to the city centre -- snakes, less than a kilometre from the Opera House, and more. The simple explanation is that many parts of the land were hard to reach, and so they were passed by. Now we value them too much to ever let them go, but it makes for a sprawling city.
Middle Harbour is almost entirely lined with bush, with houses on the ridges up above. The last major burn, January 1994, narrowly missed crashing through into that area, so it will have to be a prime cause for worry at the end of 1997, so control burning is already under way as we approach our autumn. When this area goes up, it is likely to take several hundred houses with it. The conditions are ripe and getting riper.
This file is http://www.ozemail.com.au/~macinnis/sydharb.htm
It was last revised on March 18, 1997
It was created by Peter Macinnis -- macinnis@ozemail.com.au
Unless otherwise indicated, all materials shown here are free of any copyright restrictions.