Australia - Pacific Crossing Notes: A Sailor's Guide to the Coconut Milk Run - page 421

A First Glance
Our pulses were soaring as we rounded the cliffs of North Head and steered Namani into
the city for the first time. The initial view isn't striking; with a tight corner hiding the inner
bay, we could forgive Captain Cook for sailing straight past, making only a passing note
about “a Bay or Harbour wherein there appeared to be safe anchorage which I call'd Port
Jackson.” It wasn't until 1788 that convict settlers of the First Fleet stumbled across the in-
ner harbor and laid the foundations of what would become a spectacular city.
The moment we turned that tease of a corner, iconic views of modern Sydney were ours,
there for the taking in the form of several hundred camera clicks. The Opera House, the
“coathanger” bridge, the contrast of a high rise city with peaceful swaths of green. Having
been to Sydney before, it was all familiar, but arriving aboard our own boat was still thrill-
ing - especially after sailing from halfway around the world.
Inside the sentinels of North and South Head, the harbor immediately splits into three parts:
North Harbour, with the beachside city of Manly; Middle Harbour, an oasis of green; and
the inner harbor, which narrows, then splits again into the Lane Cove and Parramatta
Rivers. Each of these sections is a sailor's paradise, scalloped with smaller bays. So where
to begin?