Duration:
2.5 hours (approx)
Inclusions:
1x Drink at Historic Pub
Meeting Place:
Quay Bar (Customs House)
Edward Backhouse 1843 — ‘A chain gang of convicts going to work near Sidney [i.e. Sydney] New South Wales’
SYDNEY’S CONVICT COLONY — WALKING HISTORY TOUR
EXPLORE THIS CITY’S NOTORIOUS HERITAGE AS WE UNPACK ITS COLOURFUL CONVICT ORIGINS IN THE ROCKS
EXPECT:
Fascinating history, delivered with energy and insight as we uncover the scallywag stories of convicts, colonists, soldiers, sailors, larrikins, legends, rum and rebellions!
TOUR TASTER:
Once upon a time, an ambitious colonial experiment took place on the rocky shores of an ancient harbour. Thousands of miles from home, Britain’s banished thieves were locked in a prison with walls made of ocean, hunger, fear and the bush.
Defying the odds, their shanty camp clutched to life on the banks of a tiny stream. Gardens were grown, rum was traded and homes were carved into the sandstone cliffs.
Centuries changed and legends grew. Scallywag Sydney was born. Her squalid secrets & stories etched into the very foundations of the city we know today.
Journey Walks invites you to share a part in this story. This tour will keep your eyes wide open, your ears pricked and your imagination ignited.
ON THE JOURNEY
Your walking tour will cover:
- Indigenous Sydney: The harbour and its clans
- Why were the convicts sent here? : A clear context to transportation
- The voyage, landing and mishaps of the First Fleet
- Colourful convict characters & their crimes
- Surviving relics and monuments from the penal years
- Sydney’s hidden fresh water stream and its secrets
- Starvation, sickness and struggles at the first hospital
- Hidden corridors and cobblestone laneways through the Rocks
- The notorious rum trade and the rebellion of 1808
- Sydney’s oldest cottage & Georgian architecture
- Secret sandstone ruins and hidden gold-rush history
- The rise & fall of the infamous convict-architect
- Street gangs, their schemes & their hide outs in The Rocks
- What happened when the black plague came to town
- A visit inside Customs House and the Argyle Stores
- Models, maps and murals of old & new Sydney town
- Historic Pubs & underground Doss Houses
- Any question you have answered on the spot
YOUR GUIDE:
This tour is led by a local heritage professional who specialises convict history and the art of storytelling. Learn more about Your Tour Guide
TIMING INFORMATION:
- Tours last approximately 2.5 hours and covers approximately 2.5 km (1.5 miles)
- Please arrive 10 minutes before your tour begins to check-in with your guide.
MEETING POINT:
- QUAY BAR is located in front of Customs House at Circular Quay (31 Alfed St, Sydney 2000)
- Coffee, water and bathrooms are available at our meeting spot.
EXTRA INFORMATION:
- This tour moves at an easy-going pace and visits approximately 20 stops
- While mostly on flat ground, several staircases are included in our walk due to the layout of The Rocks — Unfortunately this prevents easy mobility for prams or wheelchairs
- Your guide is a native English speaker with a clear voice & an A3 folder of visual aids
- Our groups are limited to 14 people (making them half the size of other walking tours in the area) and we encourage interactivity, questions and discussion within the group
- Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders are advised that this tour may include the names and images of people who are now deceased.