Things to do in Sydney – Explore the tank stream

Wondering what to do in Sydney? Descend beneath the skyscrapers and explore the city’s historical Tank Stream. It’s a subterranean adventure.

With warm summers, mild winters, pristine beaches and a kaleidoscope of multicultural activity, Sydney contains numerous options for the outdoor enthusiast. However, beneath the hustle and bustle of the city’s surface, and kept in darkness for over 150 years, flows Sydney’s dirtiest and best kept secret. The Tank Stream – a largely forgotten waterway that was the lifeline of Sydney residents long ago.

The Flowing History of Sydney

The stream was originally thought to be an important water source for the Cadigal people, the traditional inhabitants of Sydney Cove. However, much later its practical and enchanting qualities caught the British eye, which lead to the formulation of Sydney Cove and the eventual sullying of the stream beyond all respectable usage.

Originally, the stream began from a quagmire now known as Hyde Park. From here it weaved its way under dense woodland and over sandstone rock, before ballooning through the newly formed British settlement. In the first year, convicts built a bridge over the stream, connecting the officer’s quarters on one side and the convicts and marine’s on the other. Thus ‘Bridge Street’ was named.

During 1790, a drought led Governor Arthur Phillip to scoop out three ‘tanks’ out on either side of its banks, which held 20,000 litres of water and gave the stream its name. Before long, however, stray cattle began plonking themselves in it, and all manner of bathing and discharging triggered the degradation of the water supply.

An excerpt from the Sydney Gazette, dated 1826, reads “we actually beheld upwards of half a dozen boys bathing in the very stream, for which, it is most probable, the next moment many of the inhabitants of Sydney were obliged to supply themselves with water for culinary purposes”.

In 1855, when Circular Quay was formed, much of the Tank Stream was buried. Not long after, the Hunter to Bridge Street area was built over, and pipes carried the water from Bridge Street to Circular Quay. The previously lifesaving rivulet had all but disappeared, becoming a filthy underground trickle hoarding old memories.

The Tour of Sydney’s Tank Stream

It wasn’t until 1980 that the National Trust classified the Tank Stream for its contribution to the history of Sydney. Today, Historic Houses Trust (in conjunction with Sydney Water) hold tours through the underground stream. The tours take one hour and run along an 80 metre segment of the tunnel system. Visitors are given gum boots, a hard hat and require a mole’s sense of adventure.

Before each tour, Sydney’s subterranean professionals take air from the surface and pump it through the Tank Stream via a manhole, to minimise any unsavoury experiences and make the trip manageable. There is, however, a catch. The tours are wildly popular and only run twice a year. If you want to get in the running, you need to enter an online ballot form of which only 10% of participants are successful.

Historic Houses Trust Box Office Manager, Pascale Hastings, says he’s been offered numerous bribes, such as chocolates and roses, as people are literally tripping over themselves to gain entry. Even the elderly have smothered him with guilt, telling him how little time they have left. It appears the dirty stream that time forgot is once again in vogue.

Self-Guided Tours in Sydney

For those unable to get in, or want to know the stream’s location from the surface, artist Lynne Roberts-Goodwin installed six separate landmarks in 1999. Located around Pitt, Spring and Bond streets, the glass modules, which are designed to imitate the water’s flow, are illuminated by a blue light at night. Not all of them, however, are presently working. There’s also a less subtle ode to the old stream in the form of a CBD bar.

Honourably named the ‘Tank Stream Bar’, located in Tank Stream Way, patrons can enjoy a tipple while thinking about the cows and dirty Brits that washed their bits not several feet from where they sit. Or if that thought tarnishes any possibility of an enjoyable bevy, one could always head out to the old quagmire of Hyde Park and drink some water where the Cadigal people once did, not so very long ago.