| Type: | other |
| Berry Island | |
| City: | Sydney |
| State: | NSW |
| Near-N: | Wollstonecraft |
| Near-S: | Port Jackson |
Berry Island is a locality in Wollstonecraft on the lower North Shore of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.[1] It was originally one of Sydney's Harbour Islands, but it is now connected to the mainland by a constructed isthmus.
The area is now a reserve open to the public, with an interpretive bushland walk, playground and picnic area at the site. There is also a signposted Aboriginal site with rock carvings, grinding grooves and a waterhole. The reserve is heritage-listed.[2]
Berry Island was part of a grant of land made by Governor Macquarie to Alexander Berry and Edward Wollstonecraft in 1820 [3] and is named after Alexander Berry.[4]
The island was later joined to the mainland by a stone causeway over the mudflats. During the 1960s, the land between the island and the mainland was reclaimed and made into a grassed area.[4] [5]
Berry Island contains aboriginal rock carvings, middens, a smoke-stained cave and a stone tool grinding site.[6] It has a 20-minute (750 metre) loop walk called the Gadyan Track, with interpretive signage describing the significance of points around the island. The main feature of the track is a large Aboriginal rock carving of a whale, with a boomerang-shaped carving, a waterhole and grinding grooves alongside it.[7]