Port Jackson Totally Explained

Everything about Sydney Harbour totally explained

Port Jackson, containing Sydney Harbour, is the natural harbour of Sydney, Australia. It is known for its beauty, and in particular, as the location of the Sydney Opera House and Sydney Harbour Bridge. The harbour is also used during the New Years Eve Fireworks and the start of the Sydney to Hobart yacht race.

History

The land around Port Jackson was occupied at the time of European discovery and colonisation by various tribes including the Gadigal, Cammeraygal, Eora and Wanegal peoples. The Gadigal people are said to have occupied the land stretching along the south side of Port Jackson from what is now South Head, in an arc west through to Petersham. The Cammeraygal lived on the northern side of the harbour. The area along the southern banks of the Parramatta River, west of Petersham to Rose Hill, was reported to belong to the Wanegal. The Eora people lived on the southern side of the harbour, close to where the First Fleet settled.
The harbour's discovery by Europeans is credited to Lt James Cook in 1770, although he didn't enter it. Cook named the harbour after Sir George Jackson, Judge Advocate of the Fleet at the time; he noted in his log that "there appears to be a good anchorage". Captain Arthur Phillip established the first colony in Australia at Sydney Cove inside Port Jackson in 1788 which was to become the city of Sydney. In his first dispatch from the colony back to England, Governor Phillip noted that "...we had the satisfaction of finding the finest harbour in the world, in which a thousand sail of the line may ride in the most perfect security...".
In 1942, to protect Sydney Harbour from a submarine attack, an anti-submarine boom net was constructed on Green (Laings) Point, Watsons Bay. It spanned the harbour from Green Point to Georges Head on the north side of the harbour. On the night of 31 May 1942, three Japanese midget submarines attempted to enter the harbour, one of which became entangled in the western end of the boom net's central section. Unable to free their submarine, the crew detonated charges to destroy it, killing themselves in the process. The anti-submarine boom net was demolished soon after WWII, and all that remains are the foundations of the old boom net winch house, which can be viewed on Green (Laings) Point Watsons Bay.

Fortifications

A number of former fortifications line Sydney Harbour, some of which are now heritage listed. Dawes Battery (located under the southern end of the Sydney Harbour Bridge) was recently excavated, revealing works from the 1830s. Other forts date back to 1871 and were built following the removal of British forces from Australia (the Cardwell Reforms) in 1870, which left the colony of New South Wales to organise its own defences. The fortifications and gun emplacements were designed to defend Sydney town in the event of a seaborn attack and to beat down any convict uprisings. There are four historical fortifications located between Taronga Zoo and Middle Head, Mosman, they are; the Middle Head Fortifications, the Georges Head Battery, the Lower Georges Heights Commanding Position‎ and a small fort located on Bradleys Head, known as the Bradleys Head Fortification Complex. The forts were built from sandstone quarried on site and consist of various tunnels, underground rooms, open batteries and casemated batteries, shell rooms, gunpowder magazines, barracks and trenches.

Geography

Geologically, Port Jackson is a drowned river valley, or ria. It is 19 km long with an area of 55 km². The estuary's volume at high tide is 562,000 megalitres. The perimeter of the estuary is 317 kilometres.
According to the Geographical Names Board of New South Wales, Port Jackson is "a harbour which comprises all the waters within an imaginary line joining North Head and South Head. Within this harbour lies North Harbour, Middle Harbour and Sydney Harbour." These three harbours extend from the single entrance (known as Sydney Heads (North and South Heads)). North Harbour is the shortest, and is really just a large bay extending to Manly. Middle Harbour extends to the north-west. It is bridged at The Spit and Roseville. Its headwaters lie in Garigal National Park. The longest arm, Sydney Harbour, extends west as far as Balmain, where it's fed by the estuaries of the Parramatta and Lane Cove rivers. Port Jackson is bridged by the Sydney Harbour Bridge and the ANZAC Bridge (formerly known as the Glebe Island Bridge). A tunnel, the Sydney Harbour Tunnel passes underneath the Harbour, to the east of the bridge, and in 2005 it was proposed that a third harbour crossing, this time a railway line, be constructed to the west of the bridge. The harbour is heavily embayed. The bays on the south side tend to be wide and rounded, whereas those on the north side are generally narrow inlets. Sydney's major central business district begins at Circular Quay, a small bay on the south side that has, over time, had its semi-circle reclaimed by land to the point where it's a rectangular quay. The northern side of the harbour is mainly used for residential purposes.
The waterways of Port Jackson are managed by the New South Wales Maritime Authority.

Islands

There are several islands within the harbour, including Shark Island, Clark Island, Fort Denison, Goat Island, Cockatoo Island, Spectacle Island, Snapper Island and Rodd Island. Some other former islands, including Bennelong Island, Garden Island and Berry Island, have subsequently been linked to the shore by land reclamation.

Tributaries and Waterways of Port Jackson

Tank Stream is a fresh water course which empties into Sydney Cove. Today it's little more than a storm water drain but originally it was the fresh water supply for the fledgling colony of New South Wales in the late 18th century. It originated from a swamp to the west of present day Hyde Park and at high tide entered Sydney Cove at the intersection of Bridge and Pitt Streets.

Middle Harbour is the northern arm of Sydney Harbour. It begins as a small creek (Middle Harbour Creek) at St Ives Chase. It joins Port Jackson between the two headlands, Middle Head and Grotto Point Reserve, adjacent to the Sydney Heads.

Iron Cove Creek is located in the inner-western suburbs of Croydon, Ashfield, Haberfield and Five Dock. Iron Cove Creek traverses mostly through residential areas and parkland, making a two kilometre journey from where it surfaces in Croydon to where it empties along with Hawthorne Canal into Iron Cove, which is a bay of the Parramatta River.

Parramatta River is the main tributary of Sydney Harbour, a branch of Port Jackson. The river begins at confluence of Toongabbie Creek and Darling Mills Creek west of Parramatta and travels in an easterly direction to a line between Greenwich Point, Greenwich, and Robinsons Point, Birchgrove. Here it flows into Port Jackson, still about 21 km from the ocean..

Lane Cove River is a tributary of the Parramatta River, its lower reaches form an arm of Sydney Harbour. The lower reaches of the Lane Cove River are tidal and merge into Sydney Harbour at Greenwich and Hunters Hill.

Sydney Harbour Ferries

Sydney Ferries is a state-owned corporation of the New South Wales Government providing commuter and tourist passenger ferry services in Sydney Harbour.

Further Information

Get more info on 'Sydney Harbour'.

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