Point 2 Point

Pickering Point

Pickering Point Visited in on 3 January 2009 Comment View on map -33.79403854165854;151.2348210811615

Man in the know. Looking north-west across Middle Harbour to Castle Cove and the HC Press Park.
State of the pool may vary.
Pickering Point 'swimming enclosure' - oh, the romance - looking south-west to Sugarloaf Point.
Looking north-north-east along the Seaforth shoreline.
Looking south, with Seaforth Bluff middle-left and Mosman in the distance. On the right you can see Northbridge poking out - and maybe even Fig Tree Point.
Pickering Point lit starboard beacon with Sugarloaf Point across the water.

Some of the biggest fish you’re likely to land in Sydney Harbour are found round here. Apparently the upstream side of Pickering Point is a great king, jew and big flattie spot. So no surprise to frighten up six fishermen about the swimming enclosure (that has seen better days).

Not much of a point otherwise, although it does have good views of Middle Harbour, Seaforth Bluff, Castle Cove, Explosives Reserve and Bantry Bay.

Named after George Pickering, one of the first European settlers in the area, who it is recorded resided in Manly in the year 1814.

Killarney Point

Killarney Point Visited in on 3 January 2009 Comment View on map -33.782072276360765;151.21447384357452

Looking south-west; Castle Cove on the opposite bank, building owned by Mosman Rowers Club at Killarney Point in the foreground.
Roof of Mosman Rowers Club building at Killarney Point with HD Robb Reserve across the water.
Dipodium variegatum a.k.a. Hyacinth orchid.
future ornithologist?
Looking south-west to Killarney Point with Castle Cove across the water.

Parked at the end of Killarney Drive (after a whistle stop tour of Ireland recalled in the local street names – Shamrock Pde, Donegal Rd, Clare Pl, Blarney and Connemara Ave, etc) and walked down the Flat Rock Track.

Inauspicious start with lots of weeds but it soon cleared to a fine fern and angophora forest with several precipitous rock faces above and below for good measure.

Made it to the base of the point but soon realised it was private property when we called out to a man working in the garden to ask if we could get out to the point and he replied “it’s private property.” There was a dog too. Woof. The whole place had the wife flashing back to images from a Jonestown documentary.

So retracing our steps we found another stairway leading up the steep hillside to Killarney Drive, where we were rewarded with a good view of the point and Middle Harbour.

We have since learnt (a.k.a. Googled up) that the building at Killarney Point was once a dance hall (late 1800s) and that there were other pleasure grounds around the corner in Bantry Bay that were set up by an Irishman who called the area the ‘Killarney of Australia.’ To be sure, to be sure, to be sure…

Blues Point

Blues Point Visited in on 27 December 2008 Comment View on map -33.85044113266318;151.20382815599442

Playground on the east side of Blues Point, looking south-west to Bennelong Point.
Looking south-east to Bennelong Point.
Looking south-south-west to Millers Point.
Base of the starboard beacon at the point, looking south to Walsh Bay.
At the tip of the point - left-over fortifications?
Looking south-south-west to Peacock Point, with ANZAC Bridge in the distance.
Western side of the point, looking south to Walsh Bay.
Looking west-north-west to Yurulbin Point (left), Balls Head (right) and (possibly) a bit of Clarkes Point, Woolwich, in the distance.
Blues Point Tower.

Great spot for photos of the Harbour Bridge and Opera House, popular with sightseers and fishermen and obviously well-used after dark. From the basic playground and grassy reserve, the path around the point is towered over by sandstone walls, fig trees and the brutalist apartment block of Harry Seidler.

The point is named for the Jamaican Billy Blue, a well-known character in early Sydney. The Blues Point Tower stands on the site where his house once stood.

The Aboriginal place name is Warung áréá.

Echo Point

Echo Point Visited in on 26 December 2008 Comment View on map -33.77735486131695;151.20724260807037

Looking south-east to Roseville Bridge Marina.
Looking south-west with Killarney Heights on the left and Castle Cove on the right.
Looking north-east across Middle Harbour to Garigal National Park jetty and Killarney Heights.
Looking north-west to a pipe bridge and Roseville Bridge - and the upper limits of Middle Harbour.
Echo Point Park.

Small but lovely picnic area filled with Boxing Day revellers but otherwise a slightly lacklustre point when you get down to the beach.

Named after one of the first European farms (Echo Farm) on the shores of Middle Harbour.

Yeoland Point

Yeoland Point Visited in on 26 December 2008 Comment View on map -33.78528692546229;151.2301728129387

Looking almost due north to Bantry Bay (middle right) with Middle Harbour below and Killarney Heights across the way.
Looking north to Killarney Heights and an unnamed beach.
Said unnamed beach below Killarney Heights.
Yeoland Point seen from Killarney Heights. We bent the rules for this photo being as we couldn't see the point from the point itself or any other point we got to today.

Didn’t want to risk life, limb or child scrambling down to the actual point so we stuck to the path – a classic she-oak needle-strewn forest loop invitingly called the Explosives Reserve Walking Track.

No dancing through landmines here – the area was just a buffer zone when munitions were stored across the water in Bantry Bay.

The reserve looks to have had little or no development since European settlement which may explain why it’s such a lovely walk with great trees and lots of wild flowers. But water views are few and far between and there are no tracks down to the Harbour (or at least none that we could find).

Still, husband thinks it’s one of the better bush walks in the city. Wife likes the rocks, he likes the trees.