Cockatoo Island is in Sydney Harbour, located at the junctions of the Parramatta and Lane Cove rivers. Parking on the street in Greenwich, Cath met us for a mad dash to catch the next ferry, which Andy happened to be on and was currently arriving at the wharf about 200m away. We raced with luggage in hand down the street, negotiated several flights of steps, dodging passengers on the way who had just disembarked, tagged on and ran onto the ferry, with the crew patiently waiting for us! I would say perfect timing really!From Greenwich, it was a short trip to Cockatoo Island catching our breath while enjoying the fading light as the sun disappeared beneath the horizon. The Parramatta wharf (the normal port of call) was being upgraded, so the ferry stopped on the south side of the island at Camber Wharf, where we were the only passengers to disembark. It was a short walk through Tunnel 1, to find the info office (adjacent to the Parramatta wharf!)
The Island has a variety of accommodation options from very expensive houses or apartments, to expensive glamping and finally, the cheapest option and the one we preferred camping and bring your own tent. With only a handful of areas available to camp, we chose a secluded area on the western side of the island in the Powerhouse area. Beneath a big brick chimney stack built in 1918, we erected our tents and pleasantly discovered one of the camp kitchens. As far as we were concerned, this was glamping....electric BBQ's, fridges, instant hot water and a nice large timber table with bench seat all housed in a well lit building! And so we enjoying a quick dinner of bbq sausages, salad and rolls.
The next morning we were woken by the deafening sound of screeching seagulls all perched on top of the powerhouse roof and the occasional hum of a ferry passing by. The girls were up early and ready for exploring.
We ambled to the information office to source potential activities before retiring to Societe Overboard to debate over coffee, which opportunity to take. The Convict Clue challenge came up trumps. This challenge led us all over the island and revealed much of its rich and dark history. Before the Europeans arrived, Cockatoo Island was known as Waremah by the Eora people. A sandstone plateau covered with red gums, it was a great spot for fishing and ceremonies. 
By 1839, under the direction of Governor Gipps, the island became the site of a new penal establishment. To alleviate overcrowding on Norfolk Island, an initial contingent of 60 convicts arrived although within months this number had tripled. The convicts were subjected to harsh living and working conditions. They were responsible for quarrying, labouring and construction of the prison barracks, military guardhouse and official residences. 
In response to the severe drought faced in 1837 - 1839, 20 underground silos were hand carved by the convicts. These impressive symmetrical bottle shaped structures were 5.8m deep and 6m in diameter with the capacity to hold 140 tonnes of grain. Access was only via a small square opening at ground level. Unfortunately their use was short lived as they were seen by the British Government as an interference with the free market and all the grain was ordered to be sold.
Around 1845, Governor Gipps, identified Cockatoo Island the best place in Sydney Harbour for a naval establishment for the British Navy as it was a sheltered, easy accessible but safe and defensible location surrounded by deep water. Plus there was an even increasing workforce of convicts that had been sentenced to hard labour. It took the convicts nearly 10 years to construct the 144m long Fitzroy Dock, excavating 15m sandstone cliffs to create an area for the dock. Of course adjacent to the dock were the engine houses, workshops as well as a police barracks, offices, a chapel and a mess room. In 1857, the HMS Herald was the first ship to use the dock.
Sometime in 1969, amongst disturbing reports of overcrowding and harsh treatment of prisoners, the penal settlement on Cockatoo Island disbanded with prisoners transferred to Darlinghurst. To improve it's image, Cockatoo Island was renamed Biloela, Aboriginal for White Cockatoo. At this time, there was also a division between the foreshore (dockyard) areas and the land above the escarpment. The Biloela Industrial School for Girls and the Biloela Reformatory was established in the buildings previously used by the convicts on the top of the escarpment. The reformatory was for girls younger than 16 who had broken the law, while the industrial school was intended to operate more like an orphanage for many homeless and neglected girls.
Meanwhile, docked off the north eastern side of Cockatoo Island was The Vernon, a school ship for the training of delinquent, homeless or orphaned boys in seamanship. The differing style of management and expectations between the girls and boys was huge. Reports show that the boys grew up under strict conditions learning nautical skills, doing school lessons and other life skills. Meanwhile management of the girls was the polar opposite. They were seen as hopeless cases learning domestic service but were mostly left without occupation or amusement in squalid conditions.
The mix of these three groups was not a good one and in 1880, the girls were removed from Cockatoo Island. The school ship, The Vernon, was considered a success and was eventually replaced by The Sobraon some 10 years later. The Sobraon continued to be a school ship until 1911.
Again overcrowding of colony goals saw prisoners return to Cockatoo Island in 1890 and stay there for another 20 years. With an increase in international shipping, the shipbuilding, ship repair and maintenance and the engineering actives expanded rapidly and dockyard facilities expanded over the whole island. After Federation in 1901, the island returned to it's original name Cockatoo Island.
In 1913 the Commonwealth purchased Cockatoo Island to become the Naval Dockyard of the Royal Australian Navy and Australia's first steel warship, HMAS Huon, was built. For the next 80 years, many naval ships were built, serviced and repaired here. By the end of World War I, there were over 4,000 people employed on the island. The construction of a large powerhouse and chimney in 1918 bringing electricity to the island. Then as World War II approached, the island was abuzz with activity including converting merchant ships and luxury liners to troop transports, stores and hospital ships.
Post war, the ships were converted back to their commercial services. During the 1960's, Australia's largest roll-on roll-off cargo passenger ship, The Empress of Australia was built at the island. The maintenance and refit of Oberon-class submarines became a main role of the dockyard. It wasn't all about ships though as the dockyards was also the largest steam turbine builder and repairer in Australia, servicing turbines for ships, power plants, sugar mills, oil refineries and other industries. It also was responsible for constructing products used in power stations, bridges, dames, ports, mines and major projects including the Snowy Mountains Scheme.
By the 1970's the ship building business on the island was in a serious state of decline. The HMAS Success was the last ship to be built before Cockatoo Island closed. During the 1990's many buildings and wharfs were destroyed and much of the machinery sold off. Cockatoo Island laid dormant for a decade before reopening in 2007 after extensive rehabilitation work. In 2010, Cockatoo Island was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site. So now people like us can come explore the island and discover all that history in one morning!!
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