What you pass
Sydney Harbour from the water
A guide to the sights on a Sydney Harbour cruise: the Harbour Bridge, Opera House, Fort Denison, Luna Park, Taronga Zoo and Circular Quay, and their facts.
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A Sydney Harbour dinner cruise is billed as passing the Harbour Bridge, which opened in 1932, and the Opera House, opened in 1973 and a World Heritage Site since 2007. The itinerary also lists Circular Quay, Fort Denison, Taronga Zoo and Luna Park as optional sights. The route depends on the boat and the night, so treat this as a list of what the harbour holds.
The harbour itself
Sydney Harbour is the common name for Port Jackson, a natural harbour on Australia's east coast and a drowned river valley. Its single entrance, the Sydney Heads, is formed by North Head and South Head. In 1788 Governor Arthur Phillip's First Fleet established the first colony in Australia at Sydney Cove. The Eora clans lived around the harbour before then, including the Gadigal on the south side and the Cammeraygal on the north side. Port Jackson takes in the waters of Sydney Harbour, Middle Harbour and North Harbour, along with the Lane Cove and Parramatta rivers, and the Parramatta River forms its western arm.
Sydney Harbour Bridge
The bridge is a steel through arch that opened in 1932, designed and built by the British firm Dorman Long. At each end of the arch stands a pair of concrete pylons faced with granite. Nicknamed the Coathanger, it carries rail, road, bicycle and pedestrian traffic. Dorman Long set up its workshops at Milsons Point, on the site of the present-day Luna Park.
Sydney Opera House
Designed by the Danish architect Jørn Utzon and completed by an Australian architectural team, the Opera House was opened by Queen Elizabeth II in 1973. It stands on Bennelong Point, between Sydney Cove and Farm Cove. Its roof shells carry a chevron pattern of glossy white and matte cream tiles. The building occupies the whole of Bennelong Point, and its resident companies include Opera Australia, the Sydney Theatre Company and the Sydney Symphony Orchestra. UNESCO listed it as a World Heritage Site in 2007, and from the water you see it as part of the harbour's edge.
Fort Denison
Fort Denison is a small island in the harbour, known early as Rock Island and later as Pinchgut. Convicts were punished there from 1788. The fort was begun in the 1840s, work resumed during fears of a Russian attack, and it was completed in 1857. Its tower is the only Martello tower ever built in Australia. The fort was named after William Thomas Denison, a Governor of New South Wales, and it is now part of Sydney Harbour National Park. The New South Wales National Parks and Wildlife Service manages the site.
Circular Quay and Sydney Cove
Circular Quay sits at the head of Sydney Cove, on the harbour edge of the city centre, between Bennelong Point and The Rocks. The First Fleet landed at Sydney Cove in 1788, and the cove became the point from which the city grew. Today the quay has five commuter ferry wharves and a passenger terminal for cruise ships and ocean liners. From the water it is a busy basin, with views of the Harbour Bridge on one side and the Opera House on the other. Large liners often dock at its passenger terminal, and the precinct is a popular place to watch the New Year's Eve fireworks.
Luna Park and Taronga Zoo
Luna Park Sydney is at Milsons Point on the north shore. It opened in 1935, and its main entrance is a large face in 1930s Art Deco style. Taronga Zoo is on the shore at Mosman and opened in 1916. Taronga is an Aboriginal word meaning beautiful view, and the zoo has views of the harbour and the city. Both appear on the cabaret cruise's itinerary as optional sights for the stretch of the evening after dinner.
Frequently asked questions
Will the cruise pass the Opera House?
The cruise is billed as passing under the Harbour Bridge and seeing the Opera House close up. The itinerary is subject to change.
When did the Harbour Bridge open?
In 1932. It was designed and built by the British firm Dorman Long.
What is Fort Denison?
A small island fort in the harbour, completed in 1857, with the only Martello tower built in Australia.
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