Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Follow Church St to
Bicentennial Square
, the civic centre, containing St John's Cathedral (with towers dat-
ing to 1819) and the
Parramatta Town Hall
(1883). The open, paper-dry lawns of
St John's Cemetery
(O'Connell St;
sunrise-sunset) are the resting place of many an early settler.
$9/6; 10.30am-4.30pm Tue-Sun), established in 1799, was Parramatta's first farm and housed successive
NSW governors until the 1850s. This elegant Georgian Palladian building is now a preciously maintained mu-
seum; entry is via hour-long tours around colonially furnished rooms. Phone for details about monthly ghost
nights.
Sun; Rosehill) contains part of Australia's oldest surviving European home (1793), built by renegade pas-
toralist and rum trader John Macarthur, a ruthless capitalist whose politicking made him immensely wealthy and
a thorn in the side of successive governors. It's now a hands-on museum - recline on the reproduction furniture
and thumb voyeuristically through Elizabeth Macarthur's letters.
Not far away, surrounded by 200-year-old camphor laurels and English oaks,
Hambledon Cottage
( 9635
6924; 63 Hassall St; adult/child $4/2; 11am-4pm Thu-Sun), built in 1824 for the governess of the Macar-
thurs' daughter, was later used as weekend lodgings and almost became a car park in the 1980s.
Ruse St; adult/child $6/5; 10.30am-3.30pm Wed-Sun) was built by Governor Phillip in 1791 for emancipist
farmer James Ruse as an experiment to see how long it would take him to wean himself from government sup-
plies. Ruse subsequently became Australia's first private farmer; his life is depicted in the musty cellar museum.
North Sydney
BALLS HEAD RESERVE
(Balls Head Rd; Waverton)
Scruffy, bushy Balls Head Reserve not only has great views of
the harbour, the city skyline and the industrial relics on Goat Island, but also a wiggly wa-
terline and inland paths, ancient Aboriginal rock paintings and carvings (although they're
not easily discernible), and barbecue facilities.
PARK
Like the Manly Scenic Walkway, it's easy to shut yourself off amid the sandstone and
scrub here and imagine how Sydney must have been before European settlement. From
Waverton Station turn left and follow Bay Rd, which becomes Balls Head Rd. It's a
10-minute walk.
