View from the Harbourmaster's Residence

Bony Anderson's cave, a seat carved out of stone by a wild convict named Charles Anderson, who was sentenced to be tied to the rock for two years.

Set of the TV series, Water Rats

Over the years Goat Island, in Sydney Harbour, has served as a quarry, convict stockade, explosives store, police station, fire station, boatyard and film set. Today the island forms part of the Sydney Harbour National Park.

Located in the middle of Port Jackson to the east of the Harbour Bridge, Goat Island has a long history of human habitation. The Aborigines referred to it as Mel-Mel, the First Fleet settlers chose to call it by its present name as it was here that Gov. Phillip allowed three goats purchased in Capetown on the journey out from England to forage. Over the years the island has been used as a quarry (by convicts), a home for convicts awaiting transportation to Norfolk Island, for explosives storage, as a research centre during the Bubonic Plague (1901) and as the headquarters for the management of Sydney Harbour.

Convict era relics: A hollowed out section of sandstone in an overhang on Goat Island, which was carved to hold Charles 'Bony' Anderson, a wild convict who was chained here for two years around 1838 during the island's days as a convict prison. Anderson had suffered a mental impairment which made him violent as a result of a head injury received during his service in the Royal Navy. During 1835 he received over 1,200 lashes for his numerous attempts to escape the island.
Anderson was one of 200 convicts who worked on the construction of the Gunpowder Magazine Complex on the island between 1833 and 1839. During those years, gangs of convicts quarried stone and levelling ground on a site at the south-western side of the island. The powder magazine they built is a substantial, stone-built, bomb-proof construction. In 1854 a new Colonial Magazine was constructed to the north of the existing magazine, which became known as the Queen's Magazine. Between 1925 and 1931 the magazine area to the south-west of the island was converted into a shipyard for the repair of the trusts vessels and floating plant.

Water Rats: during the mid to late 1990s, Goat Island was used as a film-set for the Australian television series Water Rats. The series premiered on 12 February 1996 and ran for six seasons and 177 episodes.

Harbourmaster's residence: If you are looking for the house in Sydney with the best view of the Harbour Bridge and the city, you can't go past this one - but it's not for sale! It is located on a rise at the eastern end of Goat Island, which sits in the middle of the Parramatta River facing the Harbour Bridge. The charming, unoccupied Federation-era sandstone house has a magnificent panoramic view of the Bridge and upper reaches of Port Jackson before it becomes the Parramatta River. This view encompasses Milsons Point, Walsh Bay and Darling Harbour. The house was built in the early 1900s following the creation of the Sydney Harbour Trust which had been given the responsibility to control and reconstruct the Port of Sydney. The Trust's operations were based on Goat Island which gave the Trust's head employee a magnificent view of the port over which he presided from his front verandah. Not a bad perk that comes with the job if you get it.

Public transport: Regular tours of the island are conducted by NSW National Parks & Wildlife Service from Circular Quay. Limited facilities. Access only by ferry on special tours to Goat Island organised by National Parks & Wildlife Service.
UBD Map 10 Ref P 4