Cockatoo Island - The best address in Sydney minus the postcode!

Cockatoo Island is the largest of the Sydney Harbour islands. Its history is a rich mix of convict, penal, social reform and maritime industry.

Before European settlement, the island was long used by the Aboriginal people of the Sydney region. The Aboriginal name for the island is "Wareamah".

Over the past 200 years, Cockatoo Island's history has been one of incarceration and maritime industry. In the twentieth century, Cockatoo Island became the biggest shipbuilding and repair facility in Australia.

In April 2007 ferry services were introduced to Cockatoo, making the island accessible to the public for the first time since shipbuilding ceased in the early 1990s.

After a hugely successful Cockatoo Island Festival three years ago, the Sydney Harbour Foreshore Trust decided to establish a permanent campground here. Kevin and Glennis Smith run the new campground on Cockatoo Island which opened in March 2008.

Cockatoo Island camping is a world first:

- a waterfront campsite in the midst of a city

- a campsite on a national heritage-listed island

- a campsite in the middle of the world's most beautiful harbour

- a campsite ten minutes by ferry from the centre of Sydney.

Enjoy a barbecue as the sun sets over the Parramatta River. Sleep under the shadows of dormant cranes and chimneys. Watch the sunrise over the Sydney Harbour Bridge. This is a camping experience like no other!

Camp site hire (up to four people) is $45 per night.

Or you can book their Camping Package which includes tent, two mattresses, two chairs and a lantern for only $75. So all campers need to bring is a pillow, sleeping bag and food.

Reservations can be made 6 months in advance by phoning 02 8898 9774 or email camp@cockatooisland.gov.au

For more information go to: http://www.cockatooisland.gov.au/ and http://www.harbourtrust.gov.au/

Kayaking coming to Cockatoo Island soon!

Hour/day casual hire from the Cockatoo Island slipway by the campground, from 10.00am to 3.00pm on weekends only during autumn/winter. Mid-week bookings can be made by arrangement for a minimum of 6 people. Hire rates are below. Blue Earth of Drummoyne, the kayak operator, will also be running tours soon from the mainland to and around Cockatoo, either half days, full days or for camping overnight.

From Cockatoo Island, kayakers can go round Spectacle and Snapper Islands, or over to Iron Cove which is very calm, or if they have 1/2 day over past Greenwich and Woolwich to the Lane Cove River. It would take an experienced kayaker about 20 mins to circumvent Cockatoo, about 1 hour for a novice going slowly.

Single Kayaks: 1hr = $20 / 2hr = $35 / 3hr = $45 / Full day = $60

Double Kayaks: 1hr = $30 / 2hr = $45 / 3hr = $55 / Full Day = $70

Operator is: Blue Earth, 48A Formosa St, Drummoyne, 9181 5200, www.blue-earth.biz