Page 110 - (DK Eyewitness) Travel Guide - Sydney

108  SY DNEY AREA B Y AREA

2 Conservatorium
of Music The History of
Cockatoo Island
Macquarie St. Map 1 C3. Tel 9351 1222.
@ Sydney Explorer, Elizabeth St routes. Now deserted, the largest of the 12
 Martin Place. Open 8am–6pm Sydney Harbour islands was used
Mon–Sat (public areas only). Closed to store grain from the 1830s. It was
pub hols, Easter Sat, 24 Dec–2 Jan. 7 a penal establishment from the
8 Wed, Thu & Sat by appt (call 0404 1840s to 1908, with prisoners being
256 256). Free concerts: 1:10pm Wed put to work cons tructing dock
(donation). ∑ music.sydney.edu.au facilities. The infamous bushranger
“Captain Thunderbolt” made his
When it was finished in 1821, escape from Cockatoo in 1863 by
this striking castellated Colonial swimming across to the mainland.
Gothic building was meant to From the 1870s to the 1960s,
be stables and servants’ quarters Cockatoo Island was a thriving
for Govern ment House, but HMS Orlando in dry dock at Cockatoo naval dock yard and shipyard, the
construction of the latter was Island in the 1890s hub of Australian industry.
delayed for almost 25 years. That
stables should be built in so grand
a style, and at such great cost, 3 Government
brought forth cries of outrage House
and led to bitter arguments
between the architect, Francis Macquarie St. Map 1 C2. Tel 9228 4111.
Greenway (see p116), and @ Sydney Explorer, Elizabeth St
Governor Macquarie – and a routes.  Martin Place. House:
decree that all future building Open 10:30am–3pm Fri–Sun
(guided tour only; ID required).
plans be submitted to London. Closed Good Fri, 25 Dec. Garden:
Between 1908 and 1915, Open 10am–4pm daily. 7 8 every
“Greenway’s folly” underwent 30 mins. ∑ governor.nsw.gov.au
a dramatic transformation. A
con cert hall, roofed in grey slate, What used to be the official
was built on the central courtyard residence of the governor of
and the entire building was New South Wales overlooks
converted for the use of the new the harbour from within the
Sydney Conservatorium of Music. Royal Botanic Garden, but the Resting on the carved stone seat of
The Conservatorium’s grandiose, somewhat sombre, Mrs Macquaries Chair
facilities include a café which turreted Gothic Revival edifice
holds lunchtime con certs seems curiously out of place 4 Mrs Macquaries
during the school term and in its beautiful park setting. Chair
an upper level with har bour It was built of local sand stone Mrs Macquaries Rd. Map 2 E2.
views. “The Con” continues to and cedar between 1837 @ Sydney Explorer, 441. 7
be a training ground for future and 1845. A fine collection of
musicians as well as being 19th- and early 20th-century The scenic Mrs Macquaries
a great place to visit. furnishings is housed within. Road winds alongside much
of what is now the city’s
Royal Botanic Garden, from
Farm Cove to Woolloomooloo
Bay and back again. The road
was built in 1816 at the
instigation of Elizabeth
Macquarie, wife of the
Governor. In the same year,
a stone bench, inscribed with
details of the new road, was
carved into the rock at the point
where Mrs Macquarie would
stop to admire the view on
her daily constitutional.
Although today the outlook
from this famous landmark
is much changed, it is just as
arresting, taking in the broad
sweep of the harbour and
The Conservatorium of Music, at the edge of the Royal Botanic Garden fore shore with all its landmarks.

108-109_EW_Sydney.indd 108 29/05/17 12:16 pm