Fort Denison — Attraction in Sydney

Fort Denison. Also known as Pitch Gut by the Convicts.

Why?

Fort Denison was established well before San Quentin State Prison (SQ). Another First for Australia (Royal National Park, south of Sydney is the world's First National Park - Initially it was a Park, later becoming a National Park but always a Park). The worst Convicts were taken to Fort Denison with a week's ratios and left there for at least a month. They would get hungry and their gut would pinch with starvation.

Being an Island, it not require any human guards. The indigenous guards were our famous SHARKS. Most English, Scottish, Irish people do not know how to swim or they bloody learn very quickly or drown. Unlike San Quentin, many determined and hungry Convicts did swim and escape Fort Denison. They swam north away from the Southern shores of the First Settlement.

On the North Shore local Aboriginal peoples feed them and integrated the white Convicts into their natural living ways of happiness, harmony with nature without exploration of the natural environment. The world has many lessons from our Aboriginal communities.

One O'clock every day, a Canon is fired to allow Sydney siders to set their watches and clocks. I regularly re-calibrate my phone this way. Surprisingly my phone is incredibly accurate.!

NSW State Survey Mark

(reference : Sydney australia. com.au)

PINCHGUT ISLAND : Thus marked on early charts by first fleeters after the British nautical term 'pinchgut: for a narrow channel. Such a channel exists between the island and Mrs...

Ah, Fort Denison—known to us convicts as "Pinchgut." Let me tell you about my unforgettable week there.

It all started when I "borrowed" the sergeant's rum ration. As punishment, they ferried me to that rocky island in the middle of Sydney Harbour. The place was officially called Rock Island, but we all knew it as Pinchgut—a name that fit all too well.

The island was barely more than a sandstone lump, rising about 15 meters above the water. They'd maroon us there with nothing but bread and water, leaving our stomachs grumbling louder than the waves. Some said "Pinchgut" was a nautical term for a narrow passage, but we knew it described our pinched bellies perfectly.

On my first night, I discovered I wasn't alone. A skeleton hung from a gibbet—a grim reminder of Francis Morgan, a fellow convict executed years before. They'd left his bones there to deter any thoughts of escape.

With nothing to do but count seagulls, I decided to make friends with them. I named the boldest one "Governor" and trained him to steal extra bread from the guards' supply boat. For a moment, I fancied myself the king of Pinchgut, ruling over my feathered subjects.

But all reigns end. After a week, they fetched me back to the mainland, thinner but wiser. I never "borrowed" rum again, but I did gain a lifelong respect for seagulls and a story that could make even the...

Fort Denison is a lovely part of the Sydney Harbour History. Once called "Pinchgut Island" this former Military Building, is now a major Tourist attraction on which you can take a guided tour (when it's open) or just sit and enjoy a coffee as you travel past it on one of the Local Ferry's. Enjoy the History of the building...