Gore Cove track to Berry Island

This 6.5Km walk which starts at Smoothey Park Wollstonecraft, follows a narrow green corridor along Berry Creek and Gore Cove to Berry Island.

Beencke’s Bridge (left), built in 1964 to replace a wooden trestle bridge, is named after the Greenwich stonemason and carpenter who built the original footbridge.

The walk passes through rain forest remnants along Berry Creek, then through open woodland along the Gore Cove foreshore.

The small island was originally joined to the mainland by narrow mudflats which have since been filled and a lawn established. The bushland was regenerated and is now maintained by North Sydney Council. There is a short circular bushland track with views of the harbour and information about Aboriginal history.

Gore Cove from Berry Is.

Our group had planned to complete our walk back to Wollstonecraft station through Badangi Bushland Reserve but hazard reduction on the day prevented this. This walk can also end at Waverton Station. (see map)

Badangi Reserve on Balls Head Bay

                             North Sydney Council Bushland Reserves info          location map 

Mamre House

Mamre House, at Orchard Hills, is recognised as a property of State significance. This substantial Georgian homestead, was the residence of the Rev. Samuel Marsden during the 1820s and 1830s. He was a colonial chaplain, magistrate and pastoralist who helped pioneer the Australian wool industry by importing and breeding the famous Merino sheep. 


The property later became the residence of Richard Rouse, a prominent public servant and grazier. It is now leased to the Sisters of Mercy who run a program combining job creation, training and tourism, for people returning to the workforce, those with a disability, and refugees.

Mamre House

Companion Garden

As well as the training centre, Mamre House includes a restaurant and tearoom (closed Mondays), a plant nursery and gift shop.
                           

                 Location map

Buses from St Marys railway station: 776 bus (Mamre Rd. just after Motorway at St. Clair)  775 bus  (turns off at nearby Banks Drive St. Clair)

Newington Armory

Now part of the parklands of Sydney Olympic Park, Newington Armory is a riverside site of undulating hills and woodlands, set aside in the late 1800s for a military magazine. Stone sea walls were constructed along the foreshore of the Parramatta River fronting the site and the mudflats were filled in to gain more land for farms, docks and a wharf.




Control transferred to the Royal Australian Navy in 1921, and the RAN Armament Depot expanded up until the 1960s. The depot remained one of two Navy ammunition storage depots in Sydney until December 1999, with ownership transferring to the State Government's Olympic Coordination Authority.

Bld 20 -1897 Powder magazine

The site is now listed on the state heritage register, due to its significant and rare extensive military and industrial landscape. The earth covering around the magazines, seen in the photos above, acted as a blast shield in the event of an explosion.

Within the grounds are an Artists Studio, a YMCA camping lodge, a theatre that was formerly a naval storehouse, and the Birds Australia Discovery Centre, which includes an extensive bird book library, education room and interpretation centre for bird conservation.

 

The Heritage Railway 

This is a 2-foot gauge railway powered by storage battery locomotives, which was used to transport munitions from the wharf  to magazines scattered throughout the site. The photo below (bottom left) shows a mock-up of such a train. As you can see it has now been adapted to take tour passengers.

 

I have wanted to visit Newington Armory since our walking group visited the area on a week day earlier this year. On that occasion we saw the wharf and the gatehouse.
The Armory is only open on the weekends, and the Heritage Railway, which takes you into a restricted section of the reserve, only runs Sundays (10.30am to 1pm when I visited).  Riding the Rails 

If walking or cycling, the Newington Armory can be reached along the River Walk - from the Wilson Park (Silverwater Rd.) end, or from the Sydney Olympic Park Wharf (~2Km) (see 525 & 526 bus routes). The nearby Blaxland Riverside Park is a very popular spot on the weekends, and cars were parked back along Jamieson St. to Holker St. when I visited.             Location map

Prince Henry Cliff Walk (2)

The Prince Henry Cliff walk, which can be started and finished at various spots along Cliff Drive, was opened in 1934 and ran from Katoomba Falls in the west to Leura Cascades in the east. A second stage extended the track from Leura Cascades eastwards to Gordon Falls.

View from Honeymoon Point, Katoomba

As the name suggests, it follows the cliff top around past various lookouts. We started our walk from Cliff Drive near the Solitary Restaurant and walked to Echo Point.

 

 The photo below shows the top of the first of the Three Sisters, with Mt Solitary in the distance.

Prince Henry Cliff Walk is visited by more than 100,000 people a year and offers magnificent floodlit views ofKatoomba Falls, Orphan Rock and the Three Sisters at night.    
                           More photo from earlier post

NSW National Parks - Prince Henry Cliff Walk information & map