Mosman Bay to Taronga Zoo and Clifton Gardens
Take a ferry to South
Mosman (Musgrave Street)
to start this walk of
about eight kilometres,
taking three hours. Climb
up the steps to Musgrave
Street, and then continue
up more steps along Herron
Walk to Raglan Street.
The large stone house
there is known as The
Castle. Turn left along
Raglan Street until you
reach Illawarra Street
on your right. Turn into
this street and descend
to Sirius Cove Beach.
The architecture along
the way is an interesting
mixture.
Now enter Sirius Cove Reserve and proceed along a bush track through an area which provided the inspiration for the artists of the Heidelberg School a century ago. You will reach Whiting Beach in due course and, soon after, Athol Wharf, where the ferry docks for Taronga Zoo.
If you wish to continue further, keep close to the shore and walk round Athol Bay to Bradley’s Head. This is now a National Park, but it was formerly a gun emplacement for the protection of Sydney. In 1839, four American ships entered the harbour unexpectedly, causing the realisation of how badly prepared the city was to deal with any emergency.
Cannons were placed here in 1840, but the fortification was not completed until the build-up to Crimea in 1853. (Incidentally, as our walk began in Raglan Street, it is worth remembering that Lord Raglan was the commander of the British troops in the Crimean War, and it was he whose orders were misinterpreted to cause the Charge of the Light Brigade.)
There is a fine view from Bradley’s Head. There is also a memorial to the four naval vessels which have borne the name H.M.A.S.Sydney and the mast from the first of these, a light cruiser which, on 9th November 1914, engaged the German cruiser Emden near Cocos Island in the first naval engagement of the Great War involving an Australian ship. Nearby is a stone column from the old Sydney Post Office.
This is used to measure a distance of precisely one nautical mile from the tower of Fort Denison. Continue north now on the eastern side of Bradley’s Head through Ashton Park to Taylors Bay, then on to Chowder Head and Clifton Gardens. Having reached Clifton Gardens, you can either go back to Taronga Zoo, taking 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.
