Sydney - The Rocks walking tour

The history of The Rocks is a story of survival, evolving from the home for the Gadigal people (60,000 years ago they called it Tallawoladah, The Rocks) to the birthplace of colonial Sydney. I took a history tour on the ground under the Bridge while Karen climbed to the top. The Rocks is Australia’s most historic precinct and a hotspot. For shopping and partying at night (no time since we are only here for the day). The first colonial fleet arrived in 1788 and built a European settlement, where convicts literally carved out dwellings and warehouses and the first hospital directly into the sandstone cliffs. The area's rugged sandstone bluffs became a natural site for the first convict encampments. Convicts literally carved the city out of the sandstone rock, building the first hospital, goal (jail), and storehouses. Houses densely populated the area with a reputation as a rough area.

By the early 19th century, The Rocks was a big international port with many warehouses and bond stores like the Argyle Stores (1826) to manage the maritime goods. I walked through the The Argyle Cut (hand-carved into sandstone by convict chain gangs between 1843 and 1859 to connect the harbor and the homes) three times as I came/left the housing parts of neighborhood and the area with merchants. In 1900 everything changed after there was an outbreak of the bubonic plague here and up to 80% of their population was wiped out by introduced diseases. Then the government took control of the area, resulting in the demolition of many "unhealthy" older buildings. In the period 1900-1960 the area became rundown and dangerous with a few big gangs. In the 1960s, the government planned to demolish the historic sandstone buildings to build high-rise office towers but the union imposed a "green ban," refusing to work on any demolition projects in the area, which successfully saved the area from destruction. There are still many original markets and pubs there (like the Fortune of War from 1828). We saw Cadmans Cottage (1816) constructed to house the Government Coxswain (they operate and manage small boats and where the term coxman from rowing races term is from) and his crew. John Cadman, a former convict who served as the 4th Government Coxswain lived there from 1827 to 1845. Susannah Place from 1844 is a terrace of 4 houses that remained unchanged and is a museum of working-class life. The Lord Nelson Brewery Hotel was another example, Sydney's oldest continuously licensed hotel, constructed from local sandstone.

The guide lead us through the Nurses Walk, once the site of the colony's first hospital, and the narrow Suez Lane. We visited the The Big Dig, an active excavation site where over 75,000 artifacts from early settlers have been unearthed. We also visited the site of many previous homes that have been excavated and have revealed what life was like for the early settlers. I also learned about the rum rebellion of 1808.

One very interesting story we heard was of the Suez Canal (OR nicknamed "Sewer's Canal"). This narrow alley's name was in used from the late 1800s and survived the cleanup of 1901. Originally Reynold's Lane, its nickname dates from the opening of the Suez Canal in Egypt in 1869; the laneway being a thoroughfare between two separate sections of The Rocks. Notorious as one of the most unsavory places in Sydney in its time known for cock-fights, dog fights and prostitution. This was also used as an escape route of the 19th century gangs.

Like all of Australia, the area has come a long way in 100 years. After the tour, the guide and I had a very interesting discussion as I compared/contrasted this area to NY Lower East Side and the tenements my parents grew up in. She had been to the Tenement Museum in NY and did not realize some of the conditions and daily life was very similar to that of The Rocks. Great way to spend the afternoon.

We had a very full day after starting out our day with the Opera House tour together and a quick lunch, and then the adventures we both had on land and in the air. Unfortunately we didn't make it this trip to see the Sydney Jewish Museum or the Great Synagogue or to pay our respects at Bondi. But we will definitely come back and stay a lot longer the next time.Read more