Phillip's vision

(Click on photo to enlarge)

Establishing a convict colony at Sydney Cove in January 1788, Governor Arthur Phillip found "one of the finest harbours in the world, in which a thousand sail on the line might ride in the most perfect security."

Yesterday, almost exactly 232 years after Phillip's pronouncement, I stood at North Head (the northern point at the entrance to the harbour) and admired the vista for myself.

To the left is the Pacific Ocean. Straight ahead in the middle distance is South Head (the southern point at the harbour entrance) and to the right in the distance you can just make out the high rise buildings in the Central Business District.

Even on a day of grey cloud and some mirkiness such as yesterday, the harbour is a spectacular sight.

For those not familiar with Sydney, the photograph above is the reverse view from the land mass on the other side of the yachts that appear in the right hand edge of this photograph.