This week, when Roy was thinking about places to go he remembered that he had visited The Spit in Sydney last year and never told you about it. This had been one of his more memorable trips, between the dozens of stingrays he saw in Middle Harbour and the interpretive signs which had been buried by the shifting sands. We've tracked the photos down, and would like to share our trip with you.
The Spit is located in Middle Harbour, Sydney, near Mosman. To visit, you will need to follow Spit Road to The Spit Bridge. You can find parking on either side of the bridge, and there are interesting things to see on both sides. However, what Roy is looking at today is on the City side of the bridge. To find it, you will need to walk along the path, down towards the bridge itself, and then continue on until you are actually under the bridge. On the other side of the bridge you'll find more interpretive signs and relics (these ones not buried in sand!) The Spit is a great place to wander around. Bring a picnic, or buy fish and chips and enjoy the scenery.
The Spit itself is a long thin strip of land which projects into Middle Harbour. It is actually a sandbar which projects out into the harbour from the end of Beauty Point, and it is this 'spit' of land which gives the area its name. The Spit doesn't cross the whole of the harbour though, and there is a wide, deep strip of water which still needs to be crossed to reach the other shore. Today, there is a bridge crossing the water, which opens a couple of times a day (one side raises) to let boats with tall masts in and out of the harbour. This bridge wasn't always there though.
As early as the 1830s, there was a ferry service operating at The Spit in Middle Harbour. This ferry service seems to have begun operation in 1834 and was operated by Barney Kearns. His ferry carried passengers from one side of the harbour to the other. In the 1850s, Peter Ellery operated the punt ferry service, carrying passengers and also horse drawn vehicles. He charged 1s 6d for the horse drawn vehicle, but if the horse swam across the harbour instead of taking the punt, he reduced the fare by sixpence. In 1889 the Government replaced the punt with a steam driven ferry, which ran for many years. In 1924, a wooden bridge was built to replace the ferry service and in 1958 it was replaced by the bridge we see there today. Under the bridge which is there now, you can still find some relics from the days of ferry travel across the harbour, and also evidence of the first bridge.
