About Cockatoo Island
Cockatoo Island is the largest island in Sydney Harbour. It's one of Sydney's great places to visit, big, surprising, entertaining. Located at the junction of the Parramatta and Lane Cove rivers, Cockatoo Island is a former imperial prison, industrial school, reformatory and gaol. It is also the site of one of Australia's biggest shipyards during the twentieth century. The first of its two dry docks was built by convicts and was completed in 1857. The island's maritime industrial activity ceased in 1992.
Today Cockatoo Island retains many remnants of its past. Its prison buildings have been nominated for World Heritage listing, along with other convict sites around Australia. Large workshops, slipways, wharves, residences and other buildings retain the texture of the island's industrial past.
Always a Sydney landmark, Cockatoo Island commands magnificent views of Sydney Harbour. A regular ferry service to the island allows visitors to explore this intriguing place at their leisure. The island boasts a campground and a cafe. Soon a bar is expected to open. Regular exhibitions and art installations are a feature of the island.
