As the river cat winds through the bay, you realise just how much water there is in Sydney, and how many waterfront mansions there are! After Cockatoo Island, the ferry heads under the Gladesville Bridge and past multiple marinas, if you are a boat enthusiast you will definitely get your fill on this ride.
The river starts to narrow after this, just wide enough for a couple of ferries to pass one another as they glide through the relatively still waters. Jump off at Olympic Park Wharf to start the walk.
Or if you are enjoying your ferry ride so much, catch it the whole way and walk back from Parramatta. Catch the ferry to Meadowbank wharf and start walking up the river towards Parramatta. When you reach the Silverwater Bridge, cross over and walk back down the river towards Olympic Park Wharf.
The whole walk takes about 2 hours. Take a right as you come off the wharf. For pretty much the whole walk you follow the river, crossing over it at different times as you like. Here is a link to a map of the walk if you need more information.
However, I just started walking and followed all of the signposts and had no difficulties finding my way. Not to mention some really cool historical structures to look at. Search Search. Go back Plan Your Stay. Go back What's On. Parramatta Lanes. We're back, Laners. Go back Discover. Historical Places. Go back Business.
Why Invest in Parramatta? Go back Parramatta Lanes. About the artists. Go back. A guide to Parramatta River Discover the history and how you can spend time in, on, above or beside the centrepiece of Parramatta. Go Back. History and Heritage For at least 40, years, the Burramatta people, a local Indigenous clan of the Darug Nation, lived on Parramatta River's banks, feasting on oysters, yams, mullet and, of course, eels.
Part of this domain with its stretch of water became a public place, Parramatta Park, in Despite the creation of a track linking the Sydney and Parramatta settlements by , and a railway in , the river remained significant throughout the nineteenth century both for access and aesthetic appeal. An auction advertisement in the Sydney Gazette of 14 August for a dwelling and bakehouse 'on the Bank of the Parramatta River' made a selling point of the fact that 'a boat can come close to the bottom of the garden'.
The best surviving example of river front aspect is the Thomas Walker Convalescent Hospital built in the s on the estate Yaralla of the wealthy philanthropist after whom it was named. A large turreted waterfront gatehouse greeted those who arrived by water. Wind and tide were critical in the first 30 years of river travel. Against the elements, a journey to Parramatta could take 12 hours or more, leaving the ferrymen exhausted from working the oars.
The first paddle steamer built in the harbour serviced the Parramatta run shortly after its launch in Others followed and from the Steam Packet Hotel advertised rooms at the newly-named Queens Wharf on the busy Parramatta River head. To the east the enterprising Joubert brothers knew that water transport was critical to the success of the salubrious riverside suburb of Hunters Hill they had started to develop in the s, and so they established their own ferry service between there and the town in The service expanded to several vessels and became a revenue stream in its own right.
Siltation and shallowing was such that the ferry service all the way to Parramatta was withdrawn in It was not reinstated until when the purpose-designed catamaran ferries, dubbed RiverCats, were introduced by the government-run State Transit Authority which then operated all the harbour ferry services. The new ferries were immediately successful and have since catered for a growing demand for river travel as more housing developments have been completed along the waterway.
However, while dredging in the s had made the upper river accessible, the service there would again become dependent upon tidal access with ever more frequently ferries terminated at Rydalmere east of Parramatta.
Because of this, and the environmental effect of wash upon the river bank, the Report of the Special Commission of Inquiry into Sydney Ferries Corporation in recommended a discontinuation of services to this upper stretch while acknowledging the likelihood of greater ferry use on the lower river.
The tide dependent service was, nonetheless, maintained after operation of Sydney's ferries was contracted to the private franchisee Harbour City Ferries in The first span over the estuarine river was built at Parramatta before That was destroyed in a flood and replaced by another around The third span on the site was completed in and named after its designer, David Lennox, the Superintendent of Bridges.
Two others followed before the opening of the Sydney Harbour Bridge in The iron lattice Gasworks Bridge was completed near Parramatta in and similar structure, the John Whitton Bridge, was built between Rhodes and Meadowbank in to cater for trains travelling from Hornsby to the city. Elsewhere punts provided river crossing for horse and vehicular traffic. The latter was part of the multi-lane North Western Expressway project and, when completed, was the largest single span concrete arch ever built.
The Burramuttagal people surely swam and played in the freshwater stretch of the river, though they may have been warier of the brackish water to the east, for bull sharks almost certainly frequented the upper river then as they do today.
Europeans, too, swam in the freshwater well into the twentieth century. A sandy beach on the river bank was named Little Coogee after the more famous beach in Sydney's eastern suburbs. At least six swimming and bathing enclosures were built along the estuary between and The sheltered waters of the riverine harbour, protected by Longnose Point, offered the ideal place for competition which was both amateur and professional. The Sydney Rowing Club, founded by gentlemen amateurs in near the present-day Sydney Opera House, purchased river premises at Abbotsford Point in Edward 'Ned' Trickett was perhaps the most celebrated as a local boy born near the river at Greenwich who went to England to win the world championship on the Thames in Henry Searle was another colonial hero; tragedy ended his brilliant career in when he died of typhoid in Europe having convincingly beaten the Canadian champion on the Thames.
A monument to his memory, a white broken column symbolising a life cut short, was erected on a rock in the Parramatta River, appropriately enough near Henley the namesake of the Thames River town most closely associated with rowing since It still stands today. Another, to the world champion William 'Bill' Beach, was erected on the opposite shore at Cabarita. Women also rowed competitively, though their prize money was a fraction of that given the men.
Several amateur women's rowing clubs were formed in the first three decades of the twentieth century in answer to the general exclusion from membership of established clubs. Tip start Kokoda Trail end as toilets there. Views of water, definitely in the regular. Only negative walking behind Concord Hospital for small period. Awesome for bikes. Mostly flat and wide.
A couple of turns to get onto or off bridges you need to watch. But fabulous paths and great scenery. First ride ever! Found it easy to follow the route, which was relatively flat. Had to stop on the way home because my quads cramped up! We did a slightly shorter version as we have done the Meadowbank section separately. Very relaxed stroll, flat all the way with some nice bush sections and creek side areas through mangroves.
Fun fun - awesome for bike riding, great for the whole family BBQ area available hire bikes on site amazing scenery Some sections are shared with car roads or a bit confusing for a US resident due to opposite side driving rules.
But in general is nice. You travel through some bridges, parks, various neighborhoods. Use Navigator in the AllTrails app and join the other outdoor explorers who have completed this trail. Homebush Bay and Parramatta River Loop easy Length A mostly paved shared path that passes through a series of parks and reserves that runs alongside Parramatta River.
It connects Homebush with Meadowbank and several other suburbs along the way. You can continue on all the way to Parramatta using similar shred paths that connect to this one. It used for riding, running walking and a safe way to commute between areas along the way or for exercising. En route, there are amenities like public restrooms, picnic areas, play equipment and shopping centres. Reviews Sort by:.
Daniel Park. September 18, Road biking. Sue Navan. September 5,
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