Stu and Enmoore had invited me to join them on a weekend organised by Jeff from the Willow Warriors to do some weeding on Goat Island.
Goat Island is part of Sydney Harbour National Park. It is a historic site with considerable heritage value. The Island has many old buildings dating back from convict times as well as some shipyards, maritime buildings, European gardens and native bush. It was the native bush that we were trying to restore. Much of the Island has been covered with invading weeds – lantana and asparagus weed. After many weekends and weekdays of work by volunteers the Island is gradually being cleared of these weeds.
Stu, Enmoore and myself, together with George (on Saturday) having rope skills were allocated a cliff section to weed. Some of the cliffs had been very successfully weeded before – but more remained to do. It was mainly asparagus weed that we had to dig out as well as a nasty patch of prickly pear.
The weeding was hard work! But there are many attractions of working on Goat Island. It has amazing views of Port Jackson. It is between Balmain and the Sydney Harbour Bridge, very close to the CBD and Darling Harbour. Also – we were able to camp on the Island. And the Island is an amazing place to camp on.
Many of the Willow Warriors used sea kayaks to reach the Island. Other, including myself and Enmoore got a lift in a launch thanks to to Rebecca, the NPWS ranger. Early on Sunday morning I borrowed one of the kayaks and went for a paddle around the Island.
On saturday evening, we had a BBQ on the lawn with great views of the city and bridge. And then we could sit back and enjoy a glass of wine and enjoy a very nice sunset and later fireworks in Darling Harbour.
The harbour was full of boats – ferrys, yachts, tall ships, party boats packed with people and loud music, a few sea kayakers. A busy place. On both days the Island was visited by tour parties. They were given a tour of the Island and then a nice meal before cruising back to the city. A significant number of the tour parties were dressed up as pirates or sailors for some reason.
The section of cliff we were weeding
A typical patch of asparagus weed
On Sunday afternoon, after we knocked off work, Rebecca, the ranger took us on a tour of the Islands historic areas. The highlight was visiting the Queens Powder Magazine – a large stone building used to store gunpowder in colonial times.
The old officers quarters
The Queens Powder Magazine
Convict bunks (with ensuite)
Inside the powder magazine. Note the octagonal plugs designs to act as safety valves in the event of an explosion of gunpowder.
Goat Island is an ongoing project of the Willow Warriors and they are always after people to help. Contact them via their website if you want to get involved.
More photos of our visit are on my website here.
I expect the hexagonal plugs were optimistically placed in the wall rather than designed. In the event of an explosion a lot of energy would need to pass through the holes very quickly.
I would have thought they would have been a tried and trusted design – given that the British Empire in those days would have had a lot of powder stores. Above the octagonal block was some sort of double air vent – part of the structure – or perhaps ventilation holes so the gunpowder didn’t become damp. The building had a raised floor (to prevent damp) and I think it also had a bitumen floor – to reduced sparking caused by shoes on rock. Note the inside is a curved ceiling and the outside a normal type slate roof. There were massive rock buttresses on the sides of the building. I assume this building is the 1836-39 building rather than a later 1854 magazine located nearby to the north (The Queens Magazine?). See wikipedia and this site which has a plan of the magazine which seems to match the building there now.