Quarantine Station

Quarantine Station, which lies above Spring Cove at North Head near Manly, forms part of the Sydney Harbour National Park and enjoys spectacular views of Manly and Middle Harbour. Between 1832 and the 1960s, the Quarantine Station served to protect Sydney from diseases such as smallpox, Spanish influenza, bubonic plague and typhoid.

Ships suspected of carrying diseases were quarantined here along with their passengers and crew. The Station, which includes a hospital and mortuary, disinfecting showers and a maze of other buildings, is open daily. Tours begin at 1.10pm and last an hour and a half. More than 500 people died at the Quarantine Station while it was in operation, leading to rumours it's haunted.

You ain't afraid of no ghost? Then take the night-time 'Ghost Tour' and hear tales of some of the ghoulish goings-on that have been reported here. Don Bank is the oldest surviving house in North Sydney and the only conserved cottage of its type - a 19th century vernacular timber cottage - in the metropolitan area.

The oldest parts of the house date back to 1854 and possibly earlier. The house was occupied up to 1974, and acquired by the North Sydney council in 1978. Now a museum devoted to the social history of North Sydney, it has permanent displays of furniture and clothing dating from the mid-19th century to the 1930s, and of kitchen furnishings and implements dating from the 1840s to the 1920s. The museum also has around four special exhibitions through the year. The extensive landscaped gardens are open seven days a week and the house and gardens can be hired for weddings and other functions.