Chowder Bay
Location: Lower North ShoreThe very picturesque Chowder Bay, now part of Sydney Harbour National Park, is one of those harbour bays with everything. There is a wharf, enclosed baths, change rooms, childrens playground, lots of grass, picnic tables and several places to buy food. When the picnic lunch is over, there's bushland to wander through, or you can go fishing or snorkeling in the clear water.
Up until recently, the eastern side of the bay was off limits to the public. It was home to a naval base with historic buildings originally used as a Submarine Miners Depot. The Depot was completed in 1892 for the Submarine Mining Corps, which maintained an electrically triggered minefield within Sydney Harbour as a defence against enemy ships. This was later converted to barracks and mess buildings. In 1999, the Sydney Federation Harbour Trust took control of the whole defence complex at Chowder Bay and decided to undertake the Depot's revitalisation as one of its first building conservation projects. The whole complex has now been given back to the public for recrational use. The Submarine Miners Depot buildings are today home to backpacker accommodation, cafes, a scuba diving centre and The Sydney Institute of Marine Science (SIMS)research facility.
Behind the bay on its south eastern side is the exclusive suburb of Clifton Gardens, with its million dollars homes with million dollar views. Tucked in between these houses and the former military establishment to the north-east is a pristine area of bushland with walking trails to explore. If walking is your thing, there's also the extensive George Head and Middle Head fortifications which can be explored by the trail along the ridge overlooking the harbour and Sydney Heads. There is also a 1.5km walking path from Chowder Bay to Balmoral Beach. At the end of the trail you pass the HMAS Penguin site.
The name Chowder Bay recalls the seafood stew eaten by whalers who set up a whaling station in the vicinity of Clifton Gardens in early colonial times. Presumably they boiled the stew in pots on the shores of the bay. The Aboriginal name for the bay was Koree, and Chowder Head was known as Gurugal.
Chowder Bay is a popular fishing spot in summer. Species like the yellowtail kingfish, bonito and Australian salmon are caught frequently during summer months. In winter trevally can be caught quite regularly. The locality is 8 kilometres north-east of the Sydney CBD. Accesss by road is from Morella Road via Bradleys Head Road, Mosman. UBD Map 217: E12.
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Georges Heights has some of the most stunning vantage points anywhere on Sydney Harbour with uninterrupted views across to Manly, Vaucluse and to the city of Sydney. Today, visitors can discover the rich military history of the area year round.
With arguably some of the best views in Sydney, Georges Heights was once used by the military as a lookout spot to see approaching enemy ships. It s home to a WWI-era military hospital the only remaining building complex of its kind in NSW as well as concealed gun pits, underground tunnels, barracks and other fascinating military structures. Visitors can explore the area s defence heritage and take in the spectacular views.
A self-guided tour of Headland Park takes you through nearly a dozen attractions and can be found in our visitor guide (pick one up from the Harbour Trust office at 28 Best Avenue, Mosman). On the tour, you 'll visit the Georges Heights Lookout, which offers panoramic views of Sydney Harbour and features an elegant sandstone platform designed by award-winning architect Richard Leplastrier. You ll also stop at the WWI-era military hospital and be sure to visit Building 21, where you can read the stories of hospital workers and the soldiers they treated. Leave time to check out the former military fortifications around the park, including gun pits and brick workshops.
The name Georges Head honours King George III, who was the reigning monarch when the First Fleet set sail in 1787. It is believed to have been named during an exploration of Port Jackson in 1788 at the same time as Bradleys Head. It was named after the expedition leader, Lieut. William Bradley.
Behind the bay on its south eastern side is the exclusive suburb of Clifton Gardens. It was named after Captain E.H. Cliffe's home, Cliffeton, which gave rise to the naming of a hotel in the area in 1871 as the Clifton Arms Hotel. Cliffe, a whaling captain, bought land here in 1832, anchoring his ships in nearby Chowder Bay. The Clifton Arms was bought by Capt. David Thompson (1835-1900) in 1891. He built a wharf, dancing pavilion and picnic facilities nearby and called it Clifton Gardens.
When he subdivided some of his land, Thomson named the streets, some with aboriginal names and others after his family. Three street names are of aboriginal origin - Iluka means 'near the sea' and Morella means 'hill', Kardinia is the aboriginal word for sunrise. When Thomson's youngest son Alexander moved to Geelong, he took the latter name with him, calling his new home Kardinia. Alexander Thomson became the first elected Mayor of Geelong.
In 1906, Sydney Ferries Limited, purchased the Thompson estate comprising land, the three-storey hotel, wharf dancing pavilion and skating rink. The company built a large circular swimming enclosure that could hold 3,000 spectators, a boatshed and a tramway from the wharf to the hotel. From before the First World War, ferries full of picnickers came to Clifton Gardens at weekends. The structure burnt down in 1956. Clifton Gardens Hotel was demolished on 17 November 1967.
If you have walked from Bradley Head to Clifton Gardens, and want go back to Taronga Zoo but by a different way, you can take a short cut across the top of Bradley's Head peninsula, or walk up Sarah's Walk to Morella Road, from where bus 228 runs back to Milson's Point at the north end of the Harbour Bridge. Be warned, the walk will get the heart rate up as it involves climbing 151 nice spaced, shady stairs. Alternatively, at the top of the stairs, you can turn north up Morella Road and loop back on the stairs that descend to Clifton Gardens, or you can turn south on Morella Road to make a shorter loop on the next set of stairs.
The stairs are named after the daughter of Mr David Thompson, who owned the land around Clifton Gardens and Taylors Bay. Thompson built the Marine Hotel which operated from 1885 to 1967, as well as a wharf and dance pavilion. When he subdivided his property in 1912, he named Sarah Street after his daughter, and David Street after himself. Sarah Street led down to Clifton Gardens Wharf, while Sarah Walk was a shortcut. A decade later, Sarah Street became part of Morella Road.
Taylors Bay, on the eastern side of Bradleys Head, remains virtually as it was when Sydney was first established - ringed by a very pretty strip of rainforest. Aceess on foot is via a track down through Taylors Gully to the beach from the Bradleys Head to Chowder Bay walking track. Aboriginal carvings of kangaroos are sometimes visible on the rocks by the water at low tide. Taylors Bay was named after Lt. James Taylor in 1810.
On the night of 31 May 1942 three Japanese submarines, I-22, I-24 and I-27, entered Sydney Harbour, each launched a Type A midget submarine for an attack on shipping in Sydney Harbour. All three midget submarines made it into the harbour. I-24 and I-27 travelled as far as Garden Island, where they fired torpedoes and caused damage. The third midget submarine failed to make it far into the harbour. Upon being spotted in Taylors Bay and attacked with depth charges by naval harbour patrol vessels, Lieutenant Keiu Matsuo and Petty Officer Masao Tsuzuku, shot themselves. The remains of their damaged mini sub is on display at the Australian war Memorial in Canberra.
Chowder Head from Chowder Bay wharf
Chowder Head is an unfenced rocky outcrop which is passed on the walk from the Taronga Zoo ferry wharf to Chowder Bay via Bradleys Head. Jutting out into Sydney Harbour, it offers sweeping harbour views, from South Head, Vaucluse, Rose Bay, Shark Island and Bradleys Head. This headland is a great vantage point for watching the sailing boats on the harbour. It is a small but interesting strip of remnant bushland contained within Sydney Harbour National Park, and is an ideal spot for bird watching. the locality was known to the pre-colonial Aborigines as Gooragal. Gooragal Rocks is a popular fishing spot.
Sydney's eastern suburbs from Chowder Head
A great policy of the Harbour Trust has been to retain as many original existing buildings as possible on the sites around Sydney Harbour that it has converted from miltary to public recreational use. One such building at Chowder Bay is a brick ammunitions store which was erected right on the beach at the foot of the Depot. During the refurbishment of the base, someone had the bright idea of turning it into a kiosk to serve coffee and take-away food to visitors to the complex and neighbouring Chowder Bay beach and reserve - voila Drift Bay Kiosk!
Formerly known as Bacino Bar, it has the feel of a hole in the wall (actually it's an annexe to a larger cafe up the hill) with its coffee machine, a couple of food displays and a tiny preparation area that leave precious little room for the solitary attendant and some customers, but it serves its purpose brilliantly. There are some basic tables and chairs our front which add to the ambience of the place, and it doesn't seem to matter if the service can be a bit on the slow side should a few customers turn up at the same time because there is only room for one person to run it. They say you might have to get your feet wet to reach the kiosk from the beach when the tide is in, but that's all part of its charm. The food is tasty though typical take-awy fare and as for the coffee, I'm not sure if the charming location and fresh air had anything to do with it tasting as good as it did.
The harbourfront art deco manor Morella was one of the finest homes to grace the suburb of Clifton Gardens until it was abandoned three decades ago. Morella was built in 1939 for the prominent Parer family of Spanish-Catalan descent. Morella's detailed brick work bearing its name, curved walls and circular loggia with short pillars remain hallmarks to the home's former grandeur. It featured prominently in a 1943 issue of Australian Home Beautiful magazine as a result of its striking design. Excavation has been made for the building of a ballroom across the entire front of the house but this was never built.
Melbourne born Leo Parer and his wife Helena commissioned Morella's design by architect Eric Nicholls, a protege of architect Walter Burley Griffin. Leo was a director of the Stanford X-Ray company, which was established by Stan Parer. Leo's brother Ray was an aviator, who joined the Australian Flying Corps during World War I. His flight from England to Australia still holds the record in its particular field. Ray was also a pioneer of aviation in Papua New Guinea. Leo's brother Damien was a war photographer who the official movie photographer to the Australian Imperial Force (AIF) during World War II. Damien's epic photographs of theatres of war in New Guinea are highly prized and regarded. Leo died in 1968, and Helena in 1989. Sarita Parer, who died in 1979, was their youngest child, and lived with her siblings Anthony and Marianna - six and five years older than her respectively - in the uniquely designed Morella. Anthony lived at Morella for a number of years, but it was left to decay after he relocated to northern NSW around 2000. He died in 2015.
Mystery has surrounded the abandoned house over the past decade as squatters and graffiti artists have left their mark and locals have lodged safety concerns with Mosman Council. The home was put up for auction in October 2016. Watching the auction unfold was Chew Ho Hong, who was Anthony Parer's nurse and lived with him for an extended period until his death in May 2015, and who was cited in his obituary as his 'loving partner'. Dramatic scenes followed the sale as Marianna Parer, 83, who had flown in from Canada to witness the auction of her former family home, broke down after the fall of the hammer. Ms Parer expressed her anguish over the loss of the family home she had grown up in.
Young Chinese buyer Edward Wei submitted the winning $6.6 million bid. The recently graduated UNSW architecture student has plans to transform the site, however the property is heritage-listed on Mosman Council's Mosman Local Environmental Plan 2012. The new owner must receive development consent for works including demolition, movement of heritage items, exterior alterations, or alterations to internal structures.
Location: 5 Morella Road, Clifton Gardens.
On foot: Walk to Chowder Bay along the bush track from Taronga Zoo (via Bradleys Head), Mosman, Clifton Gardens, Georges Heights or Balmoral.
By bus: Sydney Buses route 244 connects Chowder Bay with Wynyard in Sydney's CBD and route 228 connects Clifton Gardens with Milsons Point in North Sydney. Both routes travel via Neutral Bay, Cremorne, Spit Junction and Mosman. The bus stop at Chowder Bay is located outside Building 2 (Other Ranks - Quarters 2). The bus stop at Clifton Gardens is located at Morella Rd.
By water: Vessels (including water taxis) may drop off and pick up passengers at the public wharf at Clifton Gardens and may anchor off the beach. The naval re-fuelling wharf on the eastern point of Chowder Bay [E4] and the jetties in front of Building 10 (the Boatshed) are available for public use by prior arrangement with Ripples, LIW3, SIMS, and Land's Edge.
Catch the ferry to Taronga Zoo from Circular Quay and connect with Sydney Buses route 238 at the wharf. Alight on Middle Head Rd (before the bus turns left at Beaconsfield Rd for Balmoral) and walk 20 minutes to Chowder Bay via Georges Heights.
By car: Chowder Bay can be reached by car along Chowder Bay Rd, via Middle Head Rd, Mosman. There is limited parking along Chowder Bay Rd and metered parking in the public car park at Clifton Gardens(which is accessed via Thompson St, off Bradleys Head Rd, Mosman). Pedestrian access to Chowder Bay from the car park at Clifton Gardens is via the beach.
Chowder Bay is a shared vehicle and pedestrian area, so please take care when driving and parking your vehicle.
Gunners' Barracks
