Glebe Foreshore & Jones Bay

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Route: Federal Park, Bicentennial Park, Glebe Point, Blackwattle Bay, Glebe Rowing Club, Bridge Road, Sydney Fish Market, Bank Street, Waterfront Park, Elizabeth Bay, Pirrama Park, Giba Park

Date: 31/07/2021
From: Federal Park

Parking: Johnston Street
Start Point: Federal Park
Finish Point: Federal Park
Region: Sydney - Inner West

Route length: 10.km
Time taken: 03:01
Average speed: 3.5km/h
Ascent: 93m
Descent: 73m

Points of Interest: Blackwattle Bay, Pirrama Park

Blackwattle Bay is one of Sydney's inner harbour bays. While perhaps not quite as picturesque as the neighbouring Iron Cove (or as famous as Circular Quay), it is home to the impressive ANZAC bridge and is framed by excellent views of Sydney city.

This walk starts from Federal Park, located on the Glebe foreshore. A combination of four parks make up the Glebe Foreshore Parks, Federal Park being joined by Jubilee Park, Bicentennial Park and Blackwattle Bay Park to create 17ha of open space and sports facilities in the heart of Sydney. Immediately, the foreshore has an impressive view of the ANZAC bridge and the Sydney CBD skyline.

Rozelle Bay

We passed through Federal Park, crossing Johnstons Creek via a footbridge. The creek is currently undergoing a transformation with the aim of restoring much of the old wetlands that once existing along the shore of Sydney Harbour. The naturalisation aims to add a further 6ha of parkland in addition to the saltmarshes. While it is a bit of a building site at the moment, I imagine it will be much improved in a few years time.

The Rozelle bay mangroves

Rozelle Bay and Federal Park

ANZAC Bridge and Sydney Crown Tower

Across the wooden bridge, we entered Jubilee Park. Jubilee Park and the neighbouring Bicentennial Park are essentially one large area split into two parks, with the foreshore path making its way through the latter. The park, created in 1988 to celebrate the Bicentenary of white settlement of Australia, was the result of a fifteen-year campaign by the Glebe Society. In the early twentieth century, there was a public wharf here with a ferry service from Glebe Point -  until 1988 this small reserve was the only public access to the waterfront on Rozelle Bay.

Bicentennial Park foreshore

There are two large Moreton Bay fig trees in this Reserve that are illuminated at twilight. This is one of three public artworks in Glebe Point Road commissioned by the City in 2008. The path continues along, past the trees to Glebe Point which has a view directly beneath the ANZAC bridge and marks the separation between Rozelle Bay to the west and Blackwattle Bay to the east.

ANZAC Bridge

Blackwattle Bay

Sydney

Blackwattle Bay

ANZAC Bridge - western pylon

ANZAC Bridge and Sydney

Around from the point, a short set of steps lead down to a level stone flagged area on the waterfront backed with a stone retaining wall. This is the earliest part of Blackwattle Bay Park and has magnificent views of the city skyline. Pyrmont Point, behind the pylon of the Anzac Bridge, is dominated by the old Colonial Sugar Refinery distillery site, now mostly covered by high-rise apartments.

Sydney Tower

Blackwattle Bay at Glebe

Glebe foreshore at the site old incinerator

Along the Sydney skyline, from left to right, you can see Sydney Tower at Market Street; the World Square Tower at Liverpool Street; the Market tower over Paddy’s Market; and the University of Technology tower in Broadway.

Sydney's city skyline

We followed bridge road to enter Sydney Fish Market, which has operated on this site since 1966. The large blue building was once the Australian Paper Mill warehouse but was taken over for the wholesale auction and to house more retail outlets. We wound around the outside of the main market hall and the car park to the dark underpasses below the Western Distributor, one of Sydney's arterial motorways.

The Sydney fish market

Blackwattle Bay

The old incinerator site in Glebe

ANZAC bridge from the fish markets

Bank Street emerges from beneath the motorway directly beneath the giant pylon of the ANZAC Bridge. ANZAC Bridge is a fairly modern structure, opened to traffic on 3 December 1995 as the Glebe Island Bridge. The bridge was given its current name on Remembrance Day in 1998 to honour the memory of the soldiers of the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps (the ANZACs) who served in World War I. An Australian Flag flies atop the eastern pylon and a New Zealand Flag flies atop the western pylon.

ANZAC Bridge - eastern pylon

Looking up through the supporting cables

Glebe Island Bridge below ANZAC Bridge

Waterfront Park

Bank Street meets Waterfront Park that sits on the shore of Johnstons Bay. The park is fairly new, being created in 2006 and is part of an attractive development that occupies the site of an old fibreboard production factory. Three huge, rusted steel spheres used for creating the boards were salvaged by the developers and remain at the park.

The caneite digesters in Waterfront park

Elizabeth Bay and the development near Pirrama Park

Sydney Harbour Bridge emerges above the historic Rocks district

The path along the shore leads to Elizabeth Bay, which has also been developed into a mixed residential and recreational area. It is backed by Pirrama Park, a small that bears the Aboriginal name for the area. The site was formerly comprised of drab container wharves before redevelopment in the 1990s and mid-2000s.

The northeastern end of the park juts out into the harbour and has a view of the Sydney Harbour Bridge, looming over Barangaroo and the historic Rocks district. More immediate views include the towers or Barangaroo, on the opposite side of Darling Habour.

Crown Tower - Sydney's tallest building

Darling Harbour

Pirrama Park

We had one more stop before returning to Glebe, the small Giba Park. The park is built on top of a cluster of buildings and has a beautiful view of Pirrama park, Barangaroo and the Jones Bay wharves. It can be accessed by a set of steps, largely hidden near the entrance to the Jones Bay car park on Pirrama Road.

Pirrama Park, Jones Bay and Sydney

Elizabeth Bay

After returning to Elizabeth bay and grabbing an obligatory coffee, we followed the same route back under the ANZAC Bridge to Glebe and the foreshore parks.

Sydney fish market and Sydney Tower

Blackwattle Bay

Glebe foreshore

Bicentennial Park

The two Sydney bridges