Since we have moved to Australia, we have slowly developed an interest in camping as a family. This unified interest has taken time to develop. While I grew up camping with my family, Rick’s family tended towards B and B’s and cottages. Rick envisioned tents and campers packed together like sardines in a crowded campground and found that vision incredibly unappealing. I was eager to recapture treasured childhood memories of camping in the US National Parks and meandering across the US in the trusty VW camper, but cringed at the recollections of my harried mother trying to cook a meal in that tiny camper with the family crammed around her as the rain bucketed down outside. But we know that we are going to have to start camping if we want to explore some of the more remote areas of Australia that we are eager to see.
Fortuitously, an opportunity came along to join good friends for a night of camping on Cockatoo Island. How can one resist the novelty of camping on an island with a view of the Harbour Bridge in what is arguably the world’s most beautiful harbour? And better yet, camping with two other families would help ease the transition to outdoor living because they were sure to remember the items that we were likely to forget, and could give us guidance on tented living.
So, on a Saturday morning in November, we drove through the exclusive suburb of Hunters Hill (I gave a wave in what I thought might be the general direction of Cate Blanchett’s home) and arrived at the Woolwich ferry dock. All hands were required to carry the camping supplies one stop to the island. We were delighted to find that we had been assigned a spot right at the edge of the water and hauled our gear over in large trolleys provided for that purpose to set up our tents.
Cockatoo Island has an intriguing history. After the British arrived to found their penal colony in 1788, the island was chosen to house the country’s most dangerous convicts, and the convicts were forced to construct their own prison. Later, a reformatory school for girls was run there. In addition, it also became an important industrial and shipbuilding centre for the Royal Navy. During WWII, it became the major shipbuilding and dockyard facility for the South West Pacific following the fall of Singapore. In 1992, the dockyard closed (the prison had long ceased operating). Now facilities are being restored by the government, and activities are being held to attract the public. I wonder who came up with the idea of setting up a campground? That’s certainly thinking outside the box!
In the afternoon, we took a self-guided tour of the island to explore the buildings and ruins and the tunnels connecting the two sides of the island, and delighted to come across a man asking his girlfriend to marry him up in the Military Guardhouse with a lovely picnic and a sign spelling out in rose petals “MARRY ME”. I’m pretty sure that the hearty applause of 14 onlookers was not what they expected after their passionate embrace! We later saw a skywriting plane spell out "Marry Me Jax" and figured it was pretty fortunate that she had said yes earlier- otherwise, that skywriting would have been a bit of an embarassment. Later, we simply sat and visited, enjoying our front row view of the sailboats continually capsizing in the water as the winds picked up.
By dinnertime, the campground was full of tents, and the atmosphere became almost festival- like, with groups of campers enjoying each other’s company as they munched on nibbles and barbecued their dinners on the electric BBQ's. Outdoor living is something that Australians do so well. Almost every park has an electric BBQ or two- this camping facility had 8 grouped together, and people stood around and chatted as they grilled their Aussie BBQ standard beef sausages (mind you, this campground also had a huge fridge, four washing-up sinks, a microwave, and an instant hot water tap- we weren’t exactly roughing it).
As we ate our dinner, we became aware that the increasing winds seemed to be reaching gale force, and our tents at the unsheltered waterfront were starting to lose the battle. We tried to fortify them with guide ropes (thank goodness for those veteran campers!), but our flimsy nylon tents did not stand a chance, and they simply flattened with the wind. Finally, when the tent pole of one of the families in our party snapped, we decided to haul all the tents back into a more sheltered area, where the winds were still blowing, but not flattening, our tents.
I cannot say for certain that I got one wink of sleep that night. The lack of a pillow (I decided they were too much to carry, but I’m now willing to revisit that decision), the whipping winds and the unusual surroundings all conspired to keep me awake. But as I relished the aroma of everyone's early morning eggs and bacon sizzling on the BBQs and downed my much-needed cups of coffee, I couldn’t help thinking what a great adventure this was for our family. How many American kids (or adults, for that matter) will get a chance to camp in the middle of Sydney Harbour and explore Sydney’s convict history? And maybe now that we’ve taken our first camping step, we’ll feel brave enough to move on to more extensive camping trips- exploring more of the remote areas of Australia, and filling our family life with memories of more adventure.
Fortuitously, an opportunity came along to join good friends for a night of camping on Cockatoo Island. How can one resist the novelty of camping on an island with a view of the Harbour Bridge in what is arguably the world’s most beautiful harbour? And better yet, camping with two other families would help ease the transition to outdoor living because they were sure to remember the items that we were likely to forget, and could give us guidance on tented living.
So, on a Saturday morning in November, we drove through the exclusive suburb of Hunters Hill (I gave a wave in what I thought might be the general direction of Cate Blanchett’s home) and arrived at the Woolwich ferry dock. All hands were required to carry the camping supplies one stop to the island. We were delighted to find that we had been assigned a spot right at the edge of the water and hauled our gear over in large trolleys provided for that purpose to set up our tents.
Cockatoo Island has an intriguing history. After the British arrived to found their penal colony in 1788, the island was chosen to house the country’s most dangerous convicts, and the convicts were forced to construct their own prison. Later, a reformatory school for girls was run there. In addition, it also became an important industrial and shipbuilding centre for the Royal Navy. During WWII, it became the major shipbuilding and dockyard facility for the South West Pacific following the fall of Singapore. In 1992, the dockyard closed (the prison had long ceased operating). Now facilities are being restored by the government, and activities are being held to attract the public. I wonder who came up with the idea of setting up a campground? That’s certainly thinking outside the box!
In the afternoon, we took a self-guided tour of the island to explore the buildings and ruins and the tunnels connecting the two sides of the island, and delighted to come across a man asking his girlfriend to marry him up in the Military Guardhouse with a lovely picnic and a sign spelling out in rose petals “MARRY ME”. I’m pretty sure that the hearty applause of 14 onlookers was not what they expected after their passionate embrace! We later saw a skywriting plane spell out "Marry Me Jax" and figured it was pretty fortunate that she had said yes earlier- otherwise, that skywriting would have been a bit of an embarassment. Later, we simply sat and visited, enjoying our front row view of the sailboats continually capsizing in the water as the winds picked up.
By dinnertime, the campground was full of tents, and the atmosphere became almost festival- like, with groups of campers enjoying each other’s company as they munched on nibbles and barbecued their dinners on the electric BBQ's. Outdoor living is something that Australians do so well. Almost every park has an electric BBQ or two- this camping facility had 8 grouped together, and people stood around and chatted as they grilled their Aussie BBQ standard beef sausages (mind you, this campground also had a huge fridge, four washing-up sinks, a microwave, and an instant hot water tap- we weren’t exactly roughing it).
As we ate our dinner, we became aware that the increasing winds seemed to be reaching gale force, and our tents at the unsheltered waterfront were starting to lose the battle. We tried to fortify them with guide ropes (thank goodness for those veteran campers!), but our flimsy nylon tents did not stand a chance, and they simply flattened with the wind. Finally, when the tent pole of one of the families in our party snapped, we decided to haul all the tents back into a more sheltered area, where the winds were still blowing, but not flattening, our tents.
I cannot say for certain that I got one wink of sleep that night. The lack of a pillow (I decided they were too much to carry, but I’m now willing to revisit that decision), the whipping winds and the unusual surroundings all conspired to keep me awake. But as I relished the aroma of everyone's early morning eggs and bacon sizzling on the BBQs and downed my much-needed cups of coffee, I couldn’t help thinking what a great adventure this was for our family. How many American kids (or adults, for that matter) will get a chance to camp in the middle of Sydney Harbour and explore Sydney’s convict history? And maybe now that we’ve taken our first camping step, we’ll feel brave enough to move on to more extensive camping trips- exploring more of the remote areas of Australia, and filling our family life with memories of more adventure.
Erin gives a try to hauling our camping gear in the trolley...
...but returning the trolley to its dockside location was a lot more fun!
The view of the Harbour Bridge from Cockatoo Island.
A view of the campground from above.
The girls loved having their own tent!Cheers,
Anne
