Point 2 Point

Manly Point

Manly Point Visited in on 21 September 2008 Comment View on map -33.808858074252356;151.2834307551384

Kilburn Towers, 1 Addison Road.
At the end of Addison Road.
Manly Point, looking south-west to (from right) Dobroyd Head, Grotto Point, Balmoral Beach & Mosman, Middle Head and Sydney's eastern suburbs.
Looking east to Little Manly Beach (left) and Point (right).
Looking east to Little Manly Point.
Looking south to Cannae Point and buildings of the Quarantine Station, with South Head in the distance.
Manly Point.
Kilburn Towers.
Western side of Manly Point.

Favoured by little penguins and many eminent Sydney persons – ‘Boy’ Charlton, Sir Roden Cutler – but now dominated by the double-barrelled white apartment building. Next to it is a little Peace Park, another geocache hot spot.

Smedleys Point

Smedleys Point Visited in on 21 September 2008 Comment View on map -33.808153820063104;151.28248661756516

Looking north to Smedleys Point from Manly Point.
Looking west to Reef Beach and Dobroyd Head, from the northern side of Smedleys.
This may also be part of Smedleys Point. Photographed just in case. This view is just north of the previous two photos.

Smedleys schmedleys. Part point, part pool – that’s what you get when it’s residential – and part Manly Point. They’re very close.

Little Manly Point

Little Manly Point Visited in on 21 September 2008 Comment View on map -33.80924251436229;151.28709867596626

'Once a bustling industrial site...' - a plaque for your delectation. If you like plaques, this is your point.
Looking north by north-west to Little Manly Cove and Little Manly Beach and Baths (once known as Crystal Baths).
Looking south-west, from right - Manly Point, Dobroyd Head, Grotto Point and Balmoral Beach.
The point of the Point, North Head in the background.
Looking south by south-west to double-humped Cannae Point, with Watsons Bay in the far distance.
Probably Middle, Georges and Bradleys Heads, Mosman, with city peeking over the top.
Looking south-west to Hunters Bay and Mosman - Balmoral Beach at left, Rocky Point in the centre and Edwards Beach with the 1920s Bathers Pavilion to the right.
Looking south-west, Cannae Point at left and Middle Head at right.
Cannae Point and the Quarantine Station viewed from the south-east corner of the point.
Looking north-east into Spring Cove. That's the Australian Institute of Police Management in the buildings across the water to the right.
Looking north, Spring Cove and Collins Beach.
Walkway on the eastern side with picnic tables and BBQ.

This is the little point that could.

The park on the point is a bit of labyrinth, feels three times as big as it is thanks to the many levels, nooks and crannies. Strange mix of concrete, lawn, native plantings, childrens playground, industrial relics and earnest plaques.

Also strangely bereft of punters, possibly because it was once called ‘Poison Point’. (Apparently the toxic waste has been buried and sealed in.) Little Manly Point was the site of a gasworks from 1883 to 1964 supplying gas for cooking and lighting to suburbs as far away as Narrabeen.

Some kids jumping off the rocks into the water gave it a strangely 70s feel. Lots of water dragons ready to jump on any morsel dropped from the picnic table.

Good views of the historic buildings on North Head – the Australian Institute of Police Management, once a hospital for seamen during World War I, and the Quarantine Station.

Federation Point

Federation Point Visited in on 20 September Comment View on map -33.799807075040626;151.28033816814423

Looking east to Manly Cove and Manly Wharf. St Patrick's College, once a seminary now a hotel school, sits atop the hill to right.
Smedleys Point side of Manly Point, with big white building, and Cannae Point (with signal mast) behind.
Manly Ferry with a points trifecta - Smedleys, Manly & Cannae - and bonus Head (South).
Heads trifecta - Dobroyd, Middle & South (right to left) - with a bonus Point (Cannae).
Looking west to Kay-ye-my Point.
Looking east to Kay-ye-my Point. Balgowlah Heights is across the water.

Could be the newest point we’ll be visiting. Named by Manly Council in 2001 to commemorate the centenary of the Federation of Australian Colonies. Wasn’t on any map, we just walked past it. So ladies and gentlemen, may we introduce to you… Federation Point.

Cannae Point

Cannae Point Visited in on 20 September 2008 Comment View on map -33.815247356074764;151.28381431102753

Hotbed of Fairy Penguin action, with signal mast.
Cannae Point from the wharf.
Fairy Penguin breeding area.
Cannae Point, looking west to Dobroyd Head.
Looking north to Manly Point and a big white building.
Quarantine Beach from the wharf. Disinfecting room and boilerhouse on left.
Viewed from the end of the wharf - isolation hospital on the hill, luggage store (now the exhibition) to right, and disinfecting block to left.
One of the estimated 2,000 engravings made by internees and workers at the Quarantine Station.
One of the estimated 2,000 engravings made by internees and workers at the Quarantine Station.
One of the estimated 2,000 engravings made by internees and workers at the Quarantine Station.
One of the estimated 2,000 engravings made by internees and workers at the Quarantine Station.
One of the estimated 2,000 engravings made by internees and workers at the Quarantine Station.

Biggest suprise packet point so far. We were unaware of the reopened North Head Quarantine Station, whose wharf is as close as you can get to Cannae Point (from land).

‘Q Station’ now offers a moving and informative exhibition (had no idea Sydney had a bubonic plague outbreak), themed tours, accommodation, a restaurant and a free shuttle bus to boot (with a very happy tour guide / driver).

The quarantine signal mast stands on the double-humped point.

North Head is one of the first sites of contact between the Aboriginal communities and the First Fleeters. It is also the site of the kidnapping of Bennelong, Colebee and Arabanoo and the spearing of Governor Phillip.