Christmas Eve on Cockatoo Island

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We took a ferry across to Cockatoo Island with Andy and Jess, in search of an open air bar that they have on the Island over the summer. Unfortunately we arrived to discover that they had decided to close on Christmas Eve without telling anyone! Fortunately this proved not to be a problem as there was plenty to see. With a cider in hand from the other Island café to cool us down, we set off to explore the Island.

It’s quite a spooky place in some areas as it was where they used to send the convicts and the place looks like it has just been deserted with all the prison cells/ cafeteria/ exercise areas/ officers’ quarters/ even a girls school all fully in tact – it looks a bit like all life has suddenly been wiped out!

They have a few holiday cottages on the Island, and a couple of ‘glamping’ camp sites looking over the water which would be an awesome place to watch the fireworks on New Year’s Eve. They’ve also just finished a Banksy exhibition on the Island and there was the mark of lots of Banksy-a-like’s as you’ll see in the photos.

We walked around the old ship yards where they used to dismantle industrial ships, and walked through the huge sheds which are all left completely open to the public.

We caught the ferry back to Circular Quay in the early evening and went to Wine Odyssey restaurant in the Rocks for a couple of glasses of wine and some mezze and oyster dishes. We bumped into Will’s friend Lucy who was on her way to a Live band at another pub in the Rocks but we declined the offer to join as we had some other friends who were in Sydney for Christmas on the other side of Darling Harbour so we took a stroll over to catch up with them before heading back to the flat. Jess spent the evening making eggnog ready for Christmas morning breakfast and we had an early night ready for Santa to come!!

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Photos

Ferry Trip
Will, Jess and Andy catching a few rays on the ferry

Glamping
You can stay in these tents on NYE and watch the Harbour Bridge fireworks

Convicts Exercise Yard
With 3 convicts in it!

Solitary Confinement cells
... for the repeat offenders

Views from the Island
Quite a beautiful place to send the convicts!

Diver & Jo
I think he would sink pretty quickly!

Shipyard Hanger
... these were huge and had loads of hidden rooms all open for the public to explore. Health & Safety would have a field day!

A festive walk home
Shorts + Christmas Tree = something's just not right