PORT JACKSON

Description

Essentials about Port Jackson in brief

Port Jackson is Sydney’s natural harbor and definitely one of the most beautiful bodies of water in the world. A visit to Sydney should therefore definitely include a trip through the harbor, because from the water the city shows its most beautiful side. On the shore of the natural harbor, both the Sydney skyline and the city’s top sights present themselves as the very best photo motifs. First and foremost, of course, the Sydney Opera House and the Sydney Harbour Bridge, which spans the harbor in spectacular fashion. But also the many headlands and the small bays in between with their beaches make Sydney Harbor one of the most beautiful in the world.

Geographical details of Port Jackson

The term Port Jackson is often used as a synonym for Sydney Harbor, but this is not quite true. Port Jackson also consists of the water arms of Middle Harbour and North Harbour as well as the estuaries of Lane Cove and the Parramata River.

Port Jackson is 19 kilometers long and has an area of approximately 55 square kilometers. Because of the many small headlands that extend into the harbor, Port Jackson’s coastline length is an incredible 317 kilometers. Geologically, Port Jackson is a ria, a type of coastline with a narrow and long sea inlet that penetrates deep into the land. There are numerous islands in the harbor, including Shark Island, Clark Island, Fort Denison Island, Goat Island, Cockatoo Island, Spectacle Island, Snapper Island, and Rodd Island. Some former islands are now permanently connected to the mainland as a result of land reclamation efforts.

The history of Port Jackson

The area of today’s Port Jackson was settled by Aborigines about 40,000 years ago. At the beginning of colonization, about 4,000 to 8,000 aborigines lived here, belonging to three different tribes. Although their settlements have largely disappeared, rock carvings remain in some places.

In 1770, James Cook explored the area on his first voyage to the South Seas. Cock named the inlet leading inland after Sir George Jackson, one of the Lord Commissioners of the British Admiralty. On January 26, 1788, British ships of the First Fleet arrived at Port Jackson with about 1,000 men and women, about three-quarters of them convicts. They established Australia’s first white settlement at the port. The new settlement was named Sydney, in honor of Lord Sydney, the English Home Secretary at the time.

Until the 1980s, Port Jackson was also one of the country’s most important ports, handling most of Australia’s foreign trade. In the meantime, container ship traffic has moved to Botany Bay, located in the south of Sydney.

The trip through Port Jackson

If you want to sail through Port Jackson, it is best to take one of the ferries from the central Circular Quay ferry terminal and enjoy a relaxed ride through Sydney Harbor. Of course, you can also take a water cab. Experienced sailors can of course also rent a boat and let themselves be carried by the wind through Port Jackson like many Sydneysiders.