Sydney after dark
If you think a night out in the Harbour City is all about clubs and pubs, think again. Be creative and you’ll discover another sort of Sydney nightlife, says Lee Mylne.
If things that go bump in the night are your style, there are several spooky night-time options in this most historic of Australian cities – for what is history without ghosts?
Take a trip across the harbour to Q Station at Manly, the place that new arrivals to the colony were quarantined when they arrived off the ships from England. Carrying oil lamps, you’ll head up the hill to explore the former quarantine station’s gravedigger’s cottage, post office, prison, hospital and morgue, some of the best-preserved remnants of this once-dismal place.
If you’re blonde, beware: it’s said the gravedigger’s ghost fancies fair-haired girls and you may feel a tug on your tresses. Other ghosts said to roam the precinct include the imposing figure of the old quarantine station’s matron and a small boy called Isaac. Chills may indicate the presence of other departed souls, too… is that a tap on your back you feel? As the tour winds around Q Station, you might also hear the sounds of music,or the clatter of pots and pans.
Another of Sydney’s haunted and historic areas is The Rocks, where Sydney Uncovered’s The Rocks Pub Tours takes you through winding lanes and cobbled streets in which drinkers have been gathering since the first days of European settlement. Indeed, as guide John Wulf tells us, just 12 days after the First Fleet sailed into Sydney Cove, when women were permitted to stay ashore for the first time and a storm rolled in, the new arrivals “wet the new colony’s head” in a mud-and-rum-soaked orgy.
Wulf recounts these and other colourful stories as our walking tour heads into The Rocks, former stomping-ground of whalers, sailors, convicts and gangs. The Rocks’ tours vary, with any of six historic hotels being likely stopping points.
To explore a different part of Sydney at night, join one of Bounce Walking Tours’ two guided walking tours of Kings Cross. The Kings Cross Walking Tour (nightly) focuses on the area’s rich social and cultural history and the local architecture, with insightful commentary on life in this notorious suburb yesterday, today and tomorrow. The Golden Mile Walking Tour takes a different tack. Inspired by Underbelly: The Golden Mile television series, it focuses on the Cross’s seedier side. You’ll visit true crime scenes and clubs, with a local actor helping to bring lurid tales of wheeling, dealing and corruption to life.
If your idea of a night out involves something with a lighter theme, head to Luna Park on a Friday evening for Friday Night Lunacy, when the iconic theme park stays open till 11pm. The amusement park is all lit up and you can let loose on the wild rides.
Thrillseeking of a different kind awaits those who are game to venture high over the harbour with BridgeClimb Sydney. Twilight and night climbs offer very different perspectives on this familiar skyline.
Twilight climbs showcase the powerful silhouette of the bridge and let you experience the glorious transition from day into twilight or from twilight into night. You’ll be provided with full night-climbing equipment, including headlamps. As you head upwards into the shadows, high above the noise of the traffic, the climb takes a quality of its own. At the top, Sydney’s lights blaze and you feel you could touch the stars.
For an evening on the harbour rather than above it, Sydney by Sail offers a bed-and-breakfast package, B’n’B on Sea, aboard one of its luxury yachts. From either Darling Harbour or Cockle Bay, an experienced skipper sails you to a secluded bay in the harbour and drops anchor. After showing you the ropes, so to speak, he departs for the evening. Dinner is provided, as is music (or bring your own), and the lights of the city reflect magically on the water. In the morning, after you’ve had time to enjoy breakfast and coffee aboard, the skipper returns you to reality.
If there’s romance to being afloat on Sydney Harbour overnight, there’s even more, perhaps, in naming a star after your loved one. Overlooking Sydney Harbour, on Observatory Hill, is Australia’s oldest stargazing facility, built between 1857 and 1859. Visit Sydney Observatory at night and you can see the stars and planets through a powerful telescope. From a catalogue of the southern skies, you can pick out an anonymous star and officially name it in honour of anyone you like. Your star’s name will be registered and you’ll be able to view it through the telescopes.
To add even more glamour to the experience, team your romantic stargazing with a stay at The Observatory Hotel, just across the road. The opulent hotel offers a Wish Upon A Star package that includes a seven-course dinner for two in the aptly-named Galileo Restaurant, a visit to Sydney Observatory to name a star, overnight accommodation, use of the hotel’s health club facilities and breakfast the next morning.
For a different but no less memorable overnight stay with one of Sydney’s best harbour views, cross the water to Mosman and Taronga Zoo’s Roar & Snore campsite. With its impressive clifftop location, the ‘camp’ is much more than a collection of canvas shelters: each architect-designed safari-style tent comes with a timber floor, proper beds and hotel-style linen – and the shower block is just steps away.
On arrival in the evening, if you can drag your eyes from the sensational views of Sydney Opera House and the Harbour Bridge, you’ll have a chance to get up close with some of the zoo’s inhabitants – perhaps some baby crocodiles or a massive carpet python. After dinner, zoo staff members lead a one-and-a-half-to-two-hour walking tour that includes a ride on the Sky Safari cable car. When it gets dark, you’ll get a rare opportunity to see many animals, including the big cats, begin their nocturnal prowling.
Wildlife-lovers can also have a rewarding night out in Sydney at either of two aquatic attractions. The Sydney Aquarium stays open until 10pm nightly, and is the only aquarium in Australia (and one of just a few in the world) that has resident dugongs. At Oceanworld Manly, Friday nights (6:30pm to 9pm) are designated ‘date nights’ – and if your date is game, you can tumble into a tank with big sharks, turtles and stingrays after signing up for the Shark Dive Xtreme. •
Photography by Lee Mylne and Tourism NSW.
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