Sydney Heads (also simply known as 'The Heads'), is the entrance to Port Jackson (Sydney Harbour) in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.

North Head and Quarantine Head are to the north, South Head and Dunbar Head are to the south. Middle Head, Georges Head and Chowder Head are to the west and within the bay. The Hornby Lighthouse is located on South Head and is Australia's third oldest lighthouse. Macquarie Lighthouse, Australia's first lighthouse, is a few kilometres to the south on Dunbar Head.

North Head

North Head coastline and cliffs, Manly

South Head, Watsons Bay

Middle Head, Mosman

The Sydney Quarantine station is located on North Head and is one of the few facilities still in existence which once operated in each state of Australia until the 1980s. From 1828 Spring Cove, on the western side of North Head, was used to quarantine new arrivals to Sydney to minimise the spread of communicable diseases such as smallpox and whooping cough. In 1832, the whole area of North Head was set aside for a quarantine station.^[2] A permanent quarantine facility was set up in 1837 and continued to operate until 1984. Vietnamese refugees were housed there in 1975 and Cyclone Tracy victims from Darwin, Northern Territory in 1975-6.^[2] The Station was finally closed in 1984 and the 'management' of the site passed to the New South Wales National Parks and Wildlife Service.^[3]

From 1934, defence facilities were installed on the headland but were wound down in 1945. From 1953 there was a School of Artillery and it used the former defence facilities. The harbour reserve was established in 1979. The School of Artillery relocated to Puckapunyal army base in 1998. There is now an artillery museum on the headland. In 2001 the site was passed to the Sydney Harbour Federation Trust for management.^[4] Also located on North Head is the Australian Institute of Police Management, housed in a secure compound which formerly was the 'Seamens Quarters' of the Quaratine Station; a place where sailors with acquired STDs were treated and securely confined behind high sandstone walls (prior to the development of modern antibiotics).

South Head

South Head is a headland, part of Sydney Harbour National Park, to the north of the suburb of Watsons Bay.

A twenty-minute foreshore walk on the South Head Heritage Trail offers dramatic views of Middle Head, Manly, North Head and the Pacific Ocean. Starting at the delightful Camp Cove Beach, an 1870s cobblestone path leads first to Lady Bay (also known as Lady Jane) Beach, one of three in Sydney where nude bathing is lawful. It then loops around the headland, passing Hornby Lighthouse, its lightkeepers' cottages, and several gun emplacements from the end of the 19th century.

HMAS Watson, the Royal Australian Navy training base, is also located at South Head.

Middle Head

Middle Head ^[5] is a headland between North Head and South Head, beside Middle Harbour. It is part of Sydney Harbour National Park.

Middle Head is home to an extensive network of defence fortifications and tunnels, including the Middle Head Fortifications, the Georges Head Battery and the Lower Georges Heights Commanding Position and other forts located around Sydney Harbour. The fortifications feature 'Tiger Cages' where the military trained soldiers by simulating prisoner of war conditions in Vietnam.

HMAS Penguin is located at Middle Harbour.

Gallery

<gallery> Image:AerialViewNorth&SouthHeads.png|North Head and South Head Image:AerialViewNorthHead.png|thumb|Aerial view of North Head Image:northhead.JPG|View of Sydney from North Head Image:DSC02502.JPG|View of Sydney from South Head Image:MiddleGeorgeshedfort0294.JPG|Middle Head fort, Mosman Image:Hornbylighthouse.JPG|The Hornby Lighthouse Image:Maclight.jpg|The Macquarie Lighthouse Image:Macquarie Lighthouse silhouette.JPG|Macquarie Lighthouse silhouetted by the sun low in the western sky. </gallery>

References

1. ↑ North Head
2. ↑ ^{a b} Australian National Heritage listing for North Head
3. ↑
4. ↑
5. ↑ Middle Head

See also

• Bradleys Head
• Clark Island (Australia)
• Dobroyd Head
• Goat Island
• Nielsen Park
• Rodd Island
• Shark Island
• Sydney Harbour National Park