Ever since we moved to Sydney, I like taking my son on day trips inside the city. My favorites are the headlands and their scenic walking tracks, and there seems to be endless of them. My son appreciates the train rides and ferry trips just as much. Our day trip to Berry Island incorporated all the things we both enjoy in a day trip, and I think it’s a great family outing any time of the year. Just leave the pram at home.
Enjoy the Sydney Harbour in Wollstonecraft
So Berry Island is not an actual island. It’s a harbourside park in Wollstonecraft, and pleasant forest walking tracks connect it to the Wollstonecraft train station. I totally forgot that we were in a city!
But there’s no ferry connection from Berry Island to the CBD, the nearest ferry stations are Greenwich Point Wharf and McMahons Point Wharf. This also means that the park is mostly known and visited by locals.
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What to do in Berry Island Reserve?
The recipe for success is simple: a huge lawn – with electric BBQ and picnic tables, and also distant view of the Sydney skyline -, small sandy beaches in Gore Cove, a lovey, fenced playground looking over the bay (an industrial area of the bay, which is not my preference, but it makes my son excited) and an easy bushwalk around the peninsula.
Berry Island Reserve loop
This bushwalk is a ~800 meters loop, and you can get down to a small beach (which exists mainly at low tide), see Aboriginal art and visit several lookouts on the way. Golden wattles bloom along the way at the right time of the year (which is about half of the year), and the forest is bright and green all year (no news for Sydneysiders, but I still can’t help noticing this magical year-round greenery with never-fading joy).
This walking track is short and easy, but definitely not pram-friendly. It has lots of steps, large roots and rocks and narrow sections. (I don’t know why I had the idea to bring a pram here for the first time. It was a mistake.) But it’s a fun terrain for kids, and not long enough to be too tiring.
Beaches
None of the small beaches are among the best ones in Sydney, they’re actually rather just patches of sand which are great for a bit of water play for kids. The water is calm, waves are tiny and gentle. The rocks are exciting to explore, but they’re sharp and the mossy ones are very slippery, so hold hands with the little ones.
Berry Island Reserve playground
You can find bigger adventure playgrounds in Sydney than this one, yet we spent hours here with my 4-year-old. The location is so nice and tranquil, the equipment is creative. I think it suits toddlers and preschoolers best.
There’s a toddler area with a tiny slide and a tiny swing, pretend play set, a simple see-saw, a spider web climbing net and a spinner. It’s a miniature world for the smallest ones.
My son enjoyed the larger slides with exciting climbing structures: a climbing wall, a long ladder and a pole where you can play firefighter (or any other type of superhero adventurer). There’s a larger climbing net and a wooden climbing structure, and some natural themed elements (rocks and logs) to climb on and step through. And there’s a set of swings by the water, offering nice views for mums.
Though the playground is by the water, there’s no water access. The bank is quite steep here, anyway, and there’s a fence all along the bank. Water access is on the other side of the small peninsula.
Bushwalk from Berry Island Reserve to the Wollstonecraft train station
Getting to Berry Island Reserve was a fun activity on its own. It involved taking the train – which is relaxing for mums (or maybe just on some lucky days?) and exciting for young kids (or maybe just boys?).
The reserve is about 10 minutes walk from the Wollstonecraft train station on the quiet streets, but a better option is taking one of the bushwalks.
The Gore Cove Track is about 1.2 km long, and it starts just behind the train tracks, from Smoothey Park. It runs in a lovely, peaceful, closed rainforest and along Berrys Creek at first, then it takes you to dry woodland and to the Gore Cove foreshore. So not only you can observe two different types of forest in such a short distance, but it’s the perfect connection between the train station and Berry Island Reserve. It makes you feel like you’re out in the wild, on an adventure with Indiana Jones.
Since we took the Gore Cove Track from the train station, I thought we’d try the one on the other side on our way back. The 1 km walk in Badangi Reserve didn’t take us all the way to the train station, but we were a few blocks away. The track is lovely, it’s in a bright eucalyptus forest, with some huge trees and twisted branches.
Neither of the tracks are pram-friendly, they’re real walking tracks, with steps and the occasional roots and rocks. However, they’re quite short, so they could be a great introduction for hiking.
Wollstonecraft walking tracks on a map
Here I marked all the walking tracks that I described on a map:
So who’s up to this adventure?
130 ideas to get your family outside, no matter the season or the weather:
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