This is a wreck of an old work boat that sits next to a park that contains the left overs of one of Sydneys old wood mills. Once an industral area, it’s now a leafy and quiet place with a brilliant view of the city.
This visit was inspired by a post on the Old Sydney Facebook group. Its a fantastic group and worth checking out and joining if you love our history.
The site is a lovely park these days that is tucked into the suburb of Waverly. Just next to the Sydney Harbour Bridge. It used to be a different story back in 1880 it was a Saw Mill making… um wood. It lasted for 100 years and was eventually vacated and turned into a park. The only things left of its history now are the foundations of the mill and a nearby wrecked barge.
The foundations had recently been used as an art installation. A very helpful Grandmother told me this as she and her grandson checked them out also. The gold you see is not gold leaf, but cigarette packed inserts.
I scampered up top to take these shots looking down. There really isn’t much to this site, but its a nice visit and the wreck that I will show off below is worth the trip alone.
And then there is the wreck.
As you can see it sits just off the shore. Its easy to go to as there is a small sandbar caught between the barge and the shore. I would not recommend going in or on it. But you can easily stick your head or camera in for a look around.
The barge itself was left abandoned at the mill once it shut down. Overtime it sank and started it rotting. Today it still sits with the waves gently lapping at it, covered in oysters and looking FANTASTIC. Seriously, how pretty does it look against the backdrop of Sydneys CBD?
I would have loved to see what this craft looked like before it was wrecked.
I hope you enjoyed this little virtual tour. Do go check it out yourself! Take a picnic and your dog 🙂
