Bart Bear's Blog

Here's a couple more photos of the old dockyard on Cockatoo Island in Sydney Harbour. For nearly a century this island was Australia's main shipbuilding and repair centre. Now it is deserted and falling gradually into ruin. Some of it is being restored as Museum exhibits, but the large things are beyond it. The top photo is of the turbine workshop. This used to be full of huge machines that could make or repair anything in a ship's engines. Some of the gigantic machinery is still there in the side bays, but the smaller stuff has been sold to other factories. It is sad and a bit spooky to walk through this huge building. The bottom photo is of one of the dry docks (full of water ) where Australia's O class submarines were refitted and repaired in the 1970's and later. At the end of the dock is the headquarters building for the submarine repair depot and it has the nose of a sub coming out of the lawn in front of the building. There is a large camping area on the island. It is on the area where the metal shop used to be. Other big workshops have been removed as well and one of those areas is used for concerts and stunt shows. That's one use for the island, but to me Cockatoo Island is a sad reminder of the way that Australia was once almost self-sufficient and of the industries we have lost.

Labels: boats, New South Wales, Sydney