A free ballot decides who stays on Cockatoo Island this New Year’s Eve. It closes soon.
I spent Friday night on Cockatoo Island/Wareamah, in a two-bedroom Harbour View Apartment with a verandah pointed straight down the harbour, and I said the same thing roughly nine times before dinner: imagine this on New Year’s Eve.
Turns out you can. You just have to win a ballot, and it closes at 2pm AEST on Wednesday 16 September.
Access to the island on NYE is reserved for people with an accommodation booking. (Credit: Harbour Trust)
The Sydney Harbour Federation Trust is putting 11 of its holiday houses and apartments into a public ballot for the New Year’s Eve period. Entry is free; you can nominate up to three properties, and if your name comes out, you get a four-night minimum stay: check-in from 3pm on Tuesday 29 December, check-out on Saturday 2 January. Prices run from $3900 to $12,000 for the four nights. This year’s ballot also marks the debut of the Dockmaster’s Residence, an 1848 sandstone building put up by convicts using stone quarried on the island, restored and sleeping eight at $12,000.
Winners will be called by 5pm on Thursday 17 September and have to say yes on the call, with a 50 per cent deposit due at that moment. The full balance is payable by 20 November. No refunds or changes are permitted.
What’s the cost breakdown?
When you breakdown the costs per person, per night, they're not as bad as you think. (Credit: Ardent Soul Photography)
A two-bedroom apartment is $6500 for up to five guests, or $325 per person, per night. (Credit: Ardent Soul Photography)
Look at the list and $12,000 is what jumps out. Look at it per person and the pricing turns itself inside out.
The cheapest property on offer is a one-bedroom Harbour View Apartment at $3900, which sleeps two. That’s $487.50 per person per night, the most expensive bed in the ballot. The two $10,000 Heritage Houses sleep 12, which works out to $208 per person per night. The new Dockmaster’s Residence, at $12,000 for eight, sits at $375. The two-bedroom apartment I stayed in is $6500 for up to five, or $325.
So the entry-level listing is the least value for money and the second dearest is the best, and the variable doing all the work is how many people you can round up. $208 per person, per night, on Sydney Harbour on New Year’s Eve is not a mad number. It’s roughly what a decent hotel room costs in this city on a Tuesday in March.
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AI Prompt
Wake up to this view in 2027. (Credit: Emily Murphy)
Cockatoo Island's New Year's Eve stays are decided by ballot. (Credit: Harbour Trust)
Spend four nights on Cockatoo Island over New Year's. (Credit: Emily Murphy)
There’s a reason the group size matters more than usual here. On 31 December, the island closes to everyone without an accommodation booking, and ballot winners are explicitly barred from inviting day guests. Whoever is on your booking is your entire New Year’s Eve. Get the maximum occupancy right at the ballot stage, or you’re paying premium rates to have a smaller party than you planned.
Camping packages are available
NYE camping packages go on sale on 22 September. (Credit: Harbour Trust)
Cockatoo Island’s campground is the affordable option. (Credit: Destination NSW)
If the ballot feels like a lot of money resting on a phone call, the campground is the accessible version of the same view.
NYE camping packages go on sale at 9am AEST on Tuesday 22 September, with a pre-sale for the island’s NYE mailing list on Monday 21 September. It’s a two-night stay, arriving Wednesday 30 December and leaving Friday 1 January. BYO tent sites start at $590 plus a booking fee for a four-person site facing the Harbour Bridge, and $690 for a six-person one. Pre-erected packages also start at $690 for the basic setup, climbing through to a deluxe waterfront package (Harbour Bridge view) at $1290 to a premium waterfront package (Woolwich view) at $1350, of which only two exist.
Run the same per-person sum and the six-person BYO site lands at about $57.50 a head per night. That is the cheapest legitimate Sydney Harbour fireworks view I know of that comes with a bed.
One catch worth knowing before you book: campers can’t bring alcohol onto the island and have to buy it from the licensed cafes, while house and apartment guests can bring their own in moderate amounts. It’s a real difference in what the night costs and what it feels like, and it isn’t obvious until you’re deep in the terms and conditions.
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Emily Murphy is Australian Traveller's Email & Social Editor, and in her 4+ years at the company she has been instrumental in shaping its social media and email presence, and crafting compelling narratives that inspire others to explore Australia's vast landscapes. Her previous role was a journalist at Prime Creative Media and before that she was freelancing in publishing, content creation and digital marketing. When she's not creating scroll-stopping travel content, Em is a devoted 'bun mum' and enjoys spending her spare time by the sea, reading, binge-watching a good TV show and exploring Sydney's vibrant dining scene. Next on her Aussie travel wish list? South Australia and The Kimberley.
From country landscapes to the coast, Vintage Rail Journeys blends the grandeur of the golden age of rail travel with immersive local experiences.
Travelling aboard the historic Southern Aurora train is the ultimate scenic journey through regional NSW. Operated by Vintage Rail Journeys, the former Southern Aurora is a step back in time, from the lovingly restored carriages to the Off Train Experiences that spotlight local history, artisanal crafts and regional producers.
Once the overnight express that ferried passengers between Sydney and Melbourne throughout the 1960s, this train has been revived to its former mid-century glory, from the cabin layouts to the original lettering. Today, the train takes passengers on scenic and historic five-day journeys – starting and ending in Sydney – through three distinct regions of NSW: The Riverina, Golden West and North Coast.
Be transported into the golden age of travel. (Credit: Krista Eppelstun)
One of the most magical parts of travelling with Vintage Rail Journeys is waking up on the train. Each night, the train stables at a station so guests can enjoy a restful night’s sleep in stillness, before departing again at dawn. Passengers awake to the gentle motion of the carriage, flicking open the blinds to watch the landscape unfold at sunrise. There is no better way to start the day.
The onboard experience come evening time is just as picturesque. Guests enjoy the all-inclusive food and beverages, nursing cocktails in the Art Deco-inspired lounge carriage or lingering over a three-course dinner in the dining carriage. Outside the window, Eastern grey kangaroos bound across open plains and flocks of cockatoos scatter from the gumtrees. It’s an old-world way of travelling, a slower pace that’s increasingly rare amid the frenzy of modern life. From coastal sojourns to adventures through agrarian landscapes, these are the multi-day Vintage Rail Journeys itineraries transporting guests back in time.
The Riverina
Travel through the agricultural heartland of NSW. (Credit: Krista Eppelstun)
The Riverina is the agricultural heartland of NSW. Over five days, Vintage Rail Journeys takes passengers through the region to experience its celebrated produce, wines and local history. Travelling in a loop through the Central West, guests can sample sweets at the Junee Liquorice & Chocolate Factory, housed inside a former flour mill, tour an olive grove alongside a second-generation olive farmer, and enjoy tastings at family-owned wineries where the grapes are harvested mere metres away.
The Riverina is also a region shaped by passionate local historians. The Fairground Follies museum in Bowral houses one of the world’s largest collections of mechanical music and carnival memorabilia – a riot of colour and nostalgia tucked away where you’d least expect it. Meanwhile, Temora Rural Museum offers a glimpse into the history of everyday life in rural NSW. It’s home to the NSW & ACT Ambulance Museum (yes, a museum within a museum), packed with ambulances that span the past 120 years (including horse-drawn!). And seeing it all aboard a vintage train makes it feel not just like you’re visiting history, but living inside of it.
North Coast
Take in the views from Forest Sky Pier. (Credit: Destination NSW)
This five-day journey is all about ocean views and slowing down in tune with the rhythm of coastal life. As you make your way north from Sydney, the water is never too far from sight, whether Vintage Rail Journeys is tracing the Gloucester River or travelling alongside sweeping stretches of coastline. You’ll want to sit by a window as the train passes through the Coffs Harbour region – it’s one of the most scenic stretches of the whole journey.
Guests can also disembark at Coffs Harbour to take in the beauty of the Great Dividing Range at the Forest Sky Pier – a surreal lookout point that looks like a runway disappearing into the sky. The train continues onward to Byron Bay, where guests can disembark to explore the iconic beach town at their own pace. And on the return journey to Sydney, keep your eyes peeled for dolphins – they’re known to frequent the Kooragang Wetlands near Newcastle, which guests visit on a lunch cruise on the final day.
Golden West
Jump off the train for a winery experience. (Credit: Krista Eppelstun)
Travelling through the Golden West by rail is like stepping into a Frederick McCubbin painting – a nod to the golden era of rail travel. This five-day journey evokes the era of Australian Impressionism, passing through some of the country’s most painterly landscapes while tracing a path through history.
Starting in Sydney, the train makes its way to the Hawkesbury River, where the train crosses a historic rail bridge over the bronze, glassy waters below. Guests disembark here to cruise the brackish inlet aboard a historic postal boat before returning to the train to continue into Gold Rush country. Ahead lie grand heritage towns and historic estates, including the 1870s Abercrombie House in Bathurst.
Special event journeys
Enjoy all-inclusive dining and beverages on the way to special events. (Credit: Krista Eppelstun)
Regional NSW is home to some truly one-of-a-kind events, and Vintage Rail Journeys offers a memorable way to get there. Planning a trip to the Bathurst Repco 1000? Vintage Rail Journeys’ special itinerary combines accommodation, dining and transport into one seamless experience. Guests take the scenic route to Bathurst, where the train becomes a unique home base for the event, complete with transfers, all-inclusive dining and beverages, and three days of reserved grandstand seating before returning to Sydney Central Station.
For something a little more playful, guests can also join fellow Elvis enthusiasts on a special overnight journey to Parkes for the town’s iconic annual Elvis Festival. It’s a vintage rail journey – with a little added rock ‘n’ roll.
