Finger Wharf

Finger Wharf, also called Woolloomooloo Wharf, is a heritage-listed wharf in Sydney’s Woolloomooloo. Built between 1910 and 1916 for cargo and overseas shipping, it later served passenger liners and a formal passenger terminal. Today, its long boardwalk passes public sculptures, restaurants, bars, the Ovolo Hotel and apartments. Walk the length of the wharf for harbour views towards Garden Island, then stop for a meal or drink. The wharf is also a starting point for walks towards the Domain, the Royal Botanic Garden and the Opera House.

A wharf built for overseas trade

The Sydney Harbour Trust built Finger Wharf between 1910 and 1916 as a four-berth complex for wool, cargo and overseas shipping. Its design included a lowered central roadway beneath the shed floors. Workers moved wool bales on electric conveyors into storage above, then towards ships moored along both sides of the wharf.

By the 1920s, berths 7 and 8 were receiving international passenger liners. The wharf’s role changed again over the following decades, as passenger departures, wartime homecomings and post-war migrant arrivals became part of its history.

Passenger arrivals and wartime homecoming

A formal passenger terminal followed in the mid-1950s and became associated with post-war arrivals to Australia. The wharf also received service personnel returning from war: on 8 October 1945, the Arawa brought former Eighth Division prisoners of war home from Singapore to berth 9.

These different uses sit alongside the wharf’s earlier shipping history. Its preserved structure now contains a hotel, residences, restaurants and bars.