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.
The Southern Highlands earns its title as Australia’s top country town in the cooler months, and it’s worth every minute of the 90-minute drive from Sydney.
Many Sydneysiders head to the Southern Highlands in spring for the tulips. It’s one of the most stunning spring carnivals in Australia. But the ones in the know come to Bowral in winter.
The first thing you notice at this time of year is the quality of the light. It catches the tangled limbs of the gums and tints the fields, farms and forests a pretty shade of Granny Smith green. And then, a world-class art museum, an impressive network of walking trails, great shops, cosy restaurants and bars and luxury accommodation take centre stage, making Bowral a place you want to linger as the mercury drops.
Just 90 minutes south of Sydney, a Bowral winter getaway is the coolcation city folk desperately need. Here are eight reasons to pack a good coat and head for the Southern Highlands.
1. Check in
Check in to the gorgeous Ardour Milton Park Bowral. (Credit: Destination NSW)
Ardour Milton Park Bowral rises like a hologram in the hazy green light as you turn onto Horderns Road. A $10 million refurbishment of the grand 1910 estate was completed in early 2026, and the beautifully restored hotel now includes 44 guest rooms washed in sage green, cobalt blue and dusty blush. The dining room at Horderns Restaurant continues with a botanical theme – earthy banquettes, floral touches throughout – and a menu that moves with the seasons.
After enjoying slow-braised Cowra lamb and a second glass of red, move to the Polo Bar, which has a fireplace and views across the estate gardens. Build a grazing board from the dedicated Charcuterie Room and take it outside while the light lasts. If the sky clouds over, use this as your cue to enjoy a next-level spa experience at Èliva.
2. Hunt for treasure
Find vintage treasures in Dirty Janes. (Credit: Destination NSW)
Winter is the perfect season to lose an afternoon inside Dirty Janes Bowral. Over 1600 square metres of covered space houses 90 individual sellers of everything from mid-century furniture to industrial lighting, antique silverware, vintage clothing and objects whose previous lives you can only imagine. Enjoy a bit of off-the-cuff banter with your fellow fossickers in between searching for that must-have military jacket or vintage silk scarf.
Around the corner, find the Instagram-famous front door of FoundAntiques, though the real finds are deeper inside. Bring cash, wear comfortable shoes and leave some room in the boot.
3. Slow down in a beautiful gallery
Learn about an Aussie legend at The Bradman Museum. (Credit: Destination NSW)
Ngununggula – meaning ’belonging’ in the language of the Gundungurra First Nations people – is the region’s first dedicated regional gallery, housed inside the sustainably transformed old dairy building at historic Retford Park. The onsite White Cottage Gallery and restored grounds of the former Fairfax estate reward a slow wander. Find a spot to sit in the courtyard filled with rivulets of winter light and enjoy the plaintive call of a currawong carrying across the heritage-listed grounds. It’s one of the best things to do in Bowral.
Add Bowral Honey Farm for a hands-on harvest experience, then continue into town to the Milk Factory Gallery to admire eclectic works by local artists in a converted industrial space. The Bradman Museum also knocks it out of the park. Australia’s largest dedicated cricket museum sits beside the heritage-listed Bradman Oval, where a young Sir Donald Bradman first picked up a bat.
4. A taste of France
Enjoy a taste of France at Lucette.
For a taste of France without the airfare, husband-and-wife team Julien and Romy Besnard – of long-loved Franquette Crêperie – have opened Lucette, a French cafe-bistro with Paris-born chef Guillaume Dubois at the helm. Dubois brings serious pedigree from Michelin-starred kitchens in France and Sydney’s former two-hatted Monopole, and it shows. Start your day with pastries for breakfast and bookend it with boeuf bourguignon for dinner. The chocolate mousse, freckled with Guerande Salt, is the kind of dish that will make you feel smug about the decision to drive south. Join the Sydneysiders dressed in charcoal coats, boots and black tights who’ve already worked this out; the whole scene is worthy of splicing it into an Instagram reel.
Francophiles should also be across Julien’s Bowral Brasserie – led by Frenchman Julien Viel, who also found his way to the Southern Highlands and stayed.
5. Indulge in a tipple
Spend time amongst the local vines. (Credit: Destination NSW)
The drive to Centennial Vineyards passes through a beautiful woodland idyll, the countryside a fuzz of green all around. Inside the Barrel Room, a tasting flight of cool-climate pinot noir, chardonnay and reserve shiraz viognier flaunts how well the Southern Highlands does winter.
This is a region that takes its cool-climate wines seriously, and the pinot noir is one of the stars – a gentle, easy-drinking style with red cherry aromas. Follow your tutored cellar door tasting with another glass of wine in the Terrace Bar, which overlooks the vineyard and manicured grounds.
6. Blend your own gin
Pop into Millsheds Distillery & Bar. (Credit: Mattia Panunzio)
Millsheds Distillery & Bar is somewhat of a local secret. The award-winning small-batch operation produces gin, vodka and liqueurs using Australian botanicals and has picked up silver medals at both the London Spirits Competition and International Wine & Spirit Competition. Beyond the tasting paddle, the hands-on blending masterclass – where you design and leave with two bottles of your own custom gin – is the experience to book, while the terrace bar that wraps around the courtyard is a fine place to settle in afterwards.
7. Go for a walk at dawn
Switch your phone off sleep mode and set your alarm to early. Mt Gibraltar rises to 864 metres just east of Bowral’s main street and offers the best views in town. You will pass a raggle-taggle bunch of hikers on the way up to the summit, all making the same quiet pilgrimage into the crisp high-altitude air. On a clear morning, the bony ridges of the ranges come into sharp relief against the light. The return loop takes roughly 90 minutes. A flat white in Bowral tastes considerably better after completing one of the scenic walking trails.
8. Cosy up by the fireplace
Get cosy in the Berida Hotel’s whiskey bar.
A cosy bar is the perfect complement to winter in Bowral, and there are a few worth committing to. Aspinalls Whisky Bar & Lounge at the Berida Hotel is built for long, languorous evenings. Take a seat beside the fireplace laden with gnarled logs and work your way through a few whiskies and bar bites like Rangers Valley beef tartare, or salt cod and potato croquettes.
At Hickory’s within Peppers Craigieburn, well-dressed waiters in denim and leather move quietly between tables, and the cosy fireplace in the adjoining guest lounge attracts an Escape to the Country crowd.
