Mat-te-wan-ye - Pinchgut - Fort Denison

It's always fun to have an excuse to be a tourist in your own town and do something new. So Steve's birthday seemed like a good reason to book a reservation at a place claimed to be in the top five waterfront restaurants in the world, the Fort Denison Restaurant.

For those of you not familiar with Sydney, Fort Denison (as it is now called) is a small island right in the heart of the Sydney Harbour. It was originally a small rocky island and has undergone several transformations and name changes as the purpose of the island has changed. According to its website it has been a fishing spot, prison, defence structure, navigational guide, tide gauge station, weather station, time marker and now a restaurant, event space and historical museum.

Of its three given names throughout history my favorite is definitely Pinchgut, evidently because it was believed the prisoners that stayed there received very little bread and water.

Unfortunately Steve's birthday now falls during the Australian winter (so much for that summer birthday), so it seems that we maybe could have picked a better time of the year to eat at a restaurant that is built to enjoy spectacular harbour views. We will have to go back in nicer weather, and perhaps sans children, when the sides of the tent are open and views are seamless. Nonetheless, despite some light rain on Sunday we tried to make the best of his birthday lunch.

Approaching Fort Denison on the ferry

To get to Fort Denison requires taking a specific ferry as the regular Sydney Harbour ferries don't service it. We opted to use Captain Cook Cruises, otherwise there are a few other options to get you there, just a short 10 minute ride from Circular Quay. Each visitor is also required to pay a special National Park entry fee, which was included in the ferry fee.

Approach as you disembark on the island

View towards the restaurant (in covered tent for the wintery rainy weather)

Upon our arrival it was straight to lunch - at least three of us were very hungry - and one was very tired! So while Morgan snoozed Steve insisted on Emma and I trying oysters for the first time. While I love most seafood, this has never been one that appealed to me. My pre-conceived notion was correct, and Emma agreed with me with one simple word - her favorite and quickly becoming Morgan's favorite, "yuck." Morgan eventually woke up to join the rest of us for a lunch... beef wagyu for Steve, prawn and crab linguini for me, fish and chips for Emma and Morgan. We all made it through the white linen lunch without incident from the girls (kids are actually welcome here though so don't hesitate to bring them - they even have a kids menu), except for the waitress that dropped a too full tray right next to me. 

Emma staring down the oyster to make sure it was dead

Morgan looking all cute and polite with napkin bib and using a breakable plate.

I let her have my phone for 90 seconds and ended up with 48 selfies with every expression possible

As the rain had started to come down heavier we took them up on the offer for a free coffee (along with profuse apologies for the dropped tray) as we weren't going anywhere, obviously, we were on a small island and were subject to the regularly scheduled ferry times. But as we had an especially fidgety 15 month old we decided to venture out into the rain anyways to explore the rest of the island.

Morgan was excited to get outside and explore

The day was a series of bad photo attempts

Well this one turned out pretty well

Learning how to shoot the cannon 

In position to protect the city

View of the entire top level

There was a small indoor museum in the enclosed building that told the story of the island and some of its uses along with a short film playing. But really, as you can see from the photos, most of the fun to explore and the even more impressive views, are above the building and restaurant on a grassy knoll.

Another failed photo

And another... good smiles, but a blurry photo

Morgan loves noses, so we'll call this the nose game!

Look at that view!

Morgan was unaffected by the light rain, but Emma wasn't as much of a fan, so she was ready to go when the ferry came into sight. And of course, right on cue as the ferry came to take us back to the "mainland" the sun started to come out. 

There comes the sun...