24 Hours in Quarantine
A weekend at Q Station Hotel, Sydney Harbour National Park, Manly
Q Station Hotel
June 2019 (2 min read)
“That’s just the way he walks”, says the friendly driver of our little shuttle bus around Q Station Hotel as she pulls up close to an echidna shuffling along on the grass near the road. It is a fantastical spiky beast, with a strange, rolling shuffle that makes me think it’s either drunk or unwell.
The usually shy echidna is a common sight in the 30 hectares of bushland that surround this former Quarantine Station on North Head, easier to see, I fancy, than the ghosts that are said to haunt the place.
Many visitors to Q Station Hotel come to do the nightly Ghost Tour, which is supposed to be unsettling. But given the choice between spending 150 minutes seeking out apparitions, or a nice dinner in the Boilerhouse restaurant, we opt for the latter. It’s a birthday celebration for my sister, after all, and we are hoping that if given enough wine we’ll be susceptible to the paranormal activity anyhow. The complimentary bottle of De Bortoli bubbles on account of the birthday girl gets things off to a good start.
Our 82-year-old mother is along for the ride, too, so it’s handy that our Queen Deluxe Suite is in the Former First Class Precinct of the old Quarantine buildings. She would not have appreciated the Third Class Precinct, the lodgings furthest from the generous breakfast to be enjoyed at View’s restaurant.
We have 2 high-ceilinged rooms linked by a simple bathroom, with the sofa turned down into a bed. From the chairs on the broad comfy verandah, we glimpse a patch of blue Sydney harbour through the trees. This is a hotel for history buffs, nature lovers and kids (there are kayaks, bikes & snorkels for hire, but no flower arrangements or spas). Indeed, we get a strong sense of what it might have been like to be incarcerated here.
View from the beach behind the Boilerhouse restaurant
To begin with, back in the 1830s, it was hell. The site was chosen for its deep anchorage and steady supply of fresh water, but for the sick it was an arduous climb up the hill to the tents where mosquitoes raged in the summer. In 1837, the Lady MacNaghten, carrying mainly Irish immigrants, arrived with 90 cases of typhus on board. The dreadful three-month voyage had already claimed the lives of 54 people.
From those rudimentary beginnings to its closure in 1984, the Quarantine Station lost an approximate 500 people, many of them kids, either to smallpox, the bubonic plague, influenza and cholera, which isn’t to allow for the number of local Aboriginals who fell victim to the viruses brought by settlers during the 18th century.
Steps down to the beach and Boilerhouse restaurant
But steady improvements to the public health system meant that “By 1889, Immigrant ships carrying 600 passengers could be cleaned, disinfected, washed and admitted to pratique within 36 hours of arrival.” Such nuggets of useful information can be found in the illustrated history book thoughtfully provided in each room.
In the buttery light just before dusk, the birthday girl and I set off down the daunting number of steps to the Engine Room on the cove for a fortifying cocktail. On a calm June evening, we have the vista of sea, sky and Manly mostly to ourselves. It has to be one of the most tranquil spots to imbibe this close to the harbour.
It is too dark by then to see the inscriptions that have been carved in to the soft Hawkesbury sandstone over the years. They range from complex shipping heraldry etched in by immigrant stonemasons to crude scratches. I spot the Star of David, a series of Chinese characters, Japanese kanji, the SS Roggeveen Batavia, 1920, and the iron clipper Samuel Plimsoll which arrived in 1879 with a loss of only 3 passengers.
Come dinnertime, the young man who seats the three of us at the Boilerhouse informs us that the food is delicious so often we grow suspicious. But he is quite right. We argue over which of our 8 share plates is the best, my favourite being the crispy whole Ballina school prawns with yuzu aioli. My sister is treated to a chocolate happy birthday plaque on our panna cotta with kataifi pastry and announces herself delighted with the whole celebration.
The other two ring for a shuttle back to Room 50 in building P10, but I climb the stairs back up and count 232, though this may not be reliable. At the top, I hear a rustle and spot a bandicoot in the light of my phone. I reckon I’ll take the weird long-nosed creatures at Q Station over the ghosts any day.
EXTRA
A Sunday night stay for 3 adults in June cost $319 including an excellent breakfast. Dinner at the Boilerhouse is a must.
www.qstation.com.au
Ghost Tours of all kinds are available. I’d go back for the kid-friendly Ghost Trackers: 6pm Fri/Sat for 2 hours; $125 for a family of four.
Visitor Centre & Tours Desk are open 10-4pm daily.
Circular Quay to Manly on the regular ferry service takes 30 minutes. The Manly Fast Ferry takes 20 minutes and stops at Quarantine Station jetty on request. www.myfastferry.com.au
Daily tours of Q Station at 11am. Walk to Manly or Shelley Beach through the National Park. Swim/snorkel/kayak off the cove. Explore by bike. Surf at Manly Beach. Sit on the verandah and read.