Birchgrove, barge

This industrial barge is involved in dredging, trenching, pipeline construction and laying underwater cables, by Oil and Gas Engineered Systems (OES). When it isn’t being used in Sydney Harbour, Botany Bay or other Sydney waterways, it is moored in Snails Bay, near the inner west suburb of Birchgrove. Part of the Sydney skyline can be seen in the distance,

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Birchgrove, marina

A private marina under a sunny sky, viewed from Ballast Point Park in the inner west suburb of Birchgrove.

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Birchgrove, Ballast Point Park, sign

This old sign is embedded in the garden near the entrance of Ballast Point Park, in the inner west suburb of Birchgrove. Like parts of the artworks that stand next to it, the sign is an old relic from the former "Caltex" oil refinery that once stood on this site. The artworks seen here are "Tank 101" and "The Tank Farm", featuring parts of old rusty tanks used by the refinery.

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Birchgrove, Ballast Point Park, art

 This view of Ballast Point Park in Birchgrove shows a couple of public artworks. "Delicate Balance" by Robyn Backen, hangs over the water's edge, looking out on Sydney Harbour and Mort Bay at Balmain. The wall with a watery theme features the words "Like us, water breathes and dances to and fro between the earth and sky". It uses a dot font typeface used throughout the park to reflect the thousands of rivets and circular tanks that were once located on this former oil refinery site.

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Birchgrove, Ballast Point Park, art

This is part of an artwork located in the middle of Ballast Point Park at Birchgrove, with a glimpse of the Sydney skyline seen below. "Tank 101" was created to symbolise the past working history of the site by Caltex, as an oil refinery. The original tank was the largest industrial storage vessel on this site. Panels of curved sheet steel from the old tank were incorporated in this structure with graphics using a dot font typeface to reflect the thousands of rivets and circular tanks once on the site. The text is part of a line from "The Death of Isaac Nathan" a poem by Australian poet Les Murray: "Stone statues of ancient waves, tongue like dingoes on shore".

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Birchgrove, Ballast Point Park, wall

The retaining walls at Ballast Point Park at Birchgrove are made up of rubble and recycled material encased in a wire frame, from the buildings on this former oil refinery site. If you look closely, you can see that this wall features engraved padlocks. The padlocks are locked by romantics to preserve their everlasting love, with the key thrown into Sydney Harbour. The tradition seems to have originated in Italy, where couples attached padlocks to the Ponte Vecchio Bridge in Florence and threw the keys into the river. The Sydney city skyline can be seen in the distance, across the harbour.

Port Jackson, harbour pilot

A harbour pilot boat makes its way sunset across Port Jackson. The harbour pilots are used to guide ships through the appropriate channels to their designated berths within a port. This view is from Millers Point, with Barangaroo in the foreground. Across the harbour are the suburbs of Balmain East, Birchgrove, Greenwich and Goat Island.

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Birchgrove, Ballast Point Park, artefacts

Ballast Point Park at Birchgrove is located on the site of a former oil refinery. Artefacts from the demolished buildings and those discovered during redevelopmen of the site are displayed in the centre of the park in these marble and glass display cases.
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Birchgrove, Ballast Point Park

Ballast Point Park in the inner west suburb of Birchgrove is configured in terraced sections leading down to Sydney Harbour which each provide scenic views including this one of the Sydney city skyline.

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Birchgrove, Ballast Point Park

This contemporary sun shelter over these benches is located in Ballast Point Park at Birchgrove. It's designed to provide shade when the sun is at its harshest, in the middle of the day, yet still provides views of the sky. The benches provide spectacular views over Mort Bay and Sydney Harbour, with Goat Island and the Sydney Harbour Bridge in the distance.

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Birchgrove, Ballast Point Park, The Tank Farm

"The Tank Farm" is the name of this structure in Ballast Point Park, in the inner west suburb of Birchgrove. The tanks depict how Ballast Point was once used by industry as a working harbourfront and grease manufacturing site. The three remaining riveted horizontal tanks date back to the 1920s and were formerly used to store solvents. They are in their original form, making them a visual landmark from land, air and the harbour.

Birchgrove, Lady Wakehurst

The Lady Wakehurst is a former Sydney ferry that is normally moored at Snails Bay at Birchgrove.This 144 foot motor vessel was launched in 1974 and remained in service until 1996, but has been used occasionally when other ferries were out of service. It can now be chartered for cruises on Sydney Harbour for up to 650 passengers. The ferry is named after Lady Margaret Wakehurst, wife of Baron John De Vere Loder Wakehurst, former Governor of New South Wales.

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Birchgrove, sunset

This sunset is over the inner west suburb of Birchgrove, with Balmain East to the left and Goat Island to the right. The view across Port Jackson (or Sydney Harbour) is from Clyne Reserve at Millers Point.
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Birchgrove, wharf

Birchgrove Wharf is in the inner west suburb of Birchgrove. It is also known as the Yurulbin Point Wharf or Louisa Road Wharf and had been known as Longnose Point wharf, in the past. The wharf with this covered passenger waiting area is located on the Parramatta River as it enters Sydney Harbour. It is serviced by Sydney Ferries on the Inner Harbour Services between Circular Quay and Woolwich.

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Birchgrove, shop

This corner shop is located in Rowntree Street, in the inner west suburb of Birchgrove. The building has recently been restored and has reopened as Rowntree Corner Store with grocery goods, fresh fruit and vegeteblas and a delicatessen.

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Birchgrove, Ballast Point Park, Delicate Balance

"Delicate Balance" is a public artwork created by Robyn Backen, located at Ballast Point Park at Birchgrove, looking out towards Mort Bay and Sydney Harbour. The artwork hovers over the water's edge and can be entered, suggesting the entrance to a lighthouse or jetty. A series of cutouts offers views of the harbour, city, sky and park. The water can also be viewed from a metal grate in the floor and its sound reverberates through the artwork, like hearing the sea in a shell held up to the ear.

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Birchgrove, Ballast Point Park, Tank 101

"Tank 101" is both artwork and a renewable energy generator, located in the middle of Ballast Point Park at Birchgrove. It has been created to symbolise the past working history of the site as an oil refinery by Caltex. The original Tank 101, built in the 1930s, was the largest industrial storage vessel at this site, used to store crude oil for processing into lubrication oil. It was the largest tank in Australia to use rivet technology. Graphics with a dot font typeface are used throughout this site to reflect the thousands of rivets and circular tank shapes that covered the site. Panels of curved sheet steel from the old tank were rescued from the old tank and incorporated in the structure. The text is a line from "The Death of Isaac Nathan" a poem by Australian poet Les Murray: "Stone statues of ancient waves, tongue like dingoes on shore". Eight wind turbines harness the sea breeze to create energy that is used in park lighting.

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Birchgrove, Ballast Point Park

This is the middle section of the gates at the entrance to Ballast Point Park, in the inner west suburb of Birchgrove. This contemporary design features part of the name of the park in each section of the gate. This former industrial site was transformed into a pulblic park in 2009. The Sydney city skyline can be seen just peeking through and above the gate.

Birchgrove, Ballast Point Park

This rockery is part of Ballast Point Park, in the inner west suburb of Birchgrove, which looks out towards Goat Island and the Sydney Harbour Bridge. The name Ballast Point is derived from the early days of the colony when ships arrived from England with a full load but returned empty. To control buoyancy, stability and speed, sandstone was cut from this point to fill the ships as ballast.

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Birchgrove, Ballast Point

This view is from Ballast Point Park in the inner city suburb of Birchgrove, looking across Mort Bay towards the Sydney city skyline. The object on the edge of the shore is an artwork called 'Delicate Balance' by Robyn Bracken. Last weekend, this yacht was venturing out to sail on Sydney Harbour.
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