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The Guardian - AU
The Guardian - AU
National
Nick Visser

Off limits to Sydneysiders for more than a century, secretive Spectacle Island is coming up for sale

Sydney Paul Scully Sydney Harbour
A two-storey historic house on Spectacle Island sits on a rocky waterfront, surrounded by trees
Spectacle Island in Sydney Harbour is owned by the Royal Australian Navy and will be sold as part of the federal government’s plan to off-load defence sites. Photograph: Jessica Hromas/The Guardian

From the water, Spectacle Island sits in Sydney Harbour like the setting of an Agatha Christie novel. Abandoned buildings, rotting on the inside, pepper the small landmass. A gun turret sits rusting in the sun. Water snakes make their homes in the overgrown grass. The only humans to walk the old military outpost are a pair of guards who boat in for their shifts, patrolling 24 hours a day.

Sydneysiders are not allowed to roam the island, one of 13 that dot the harbour.

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