Floating Ship Forest: For all those whose hearts start beating faster when they see something ancient and abandoned, just like Homebush Bay in Sydney, Australia. This is the right place for you because it is home to the remnants of a ship-breaking yard that operated during the mid-20th century.
The huge watercraft that outlived its practicality was towed to Homebush Bay and dismantled to salvage any components that could be reused or sold for scrap. One such ship name, “SS Ayrfield” is no longer used. That is a 1,140-ton behemoth built in 1911 as a steam collier that was later used during WWII as a transport ship and supplies to American troops in the Pacific Ocean. This is the most impressive sight for the entire lush flora, growing in its rusted hull. In 1972 this ship was brought to Home bush Bay to be dismantled, but fate would decide otherwise.
Operations at the ship-breaking yard later ceased, and parts of several large vessels, including the Ayrfield, were left behind, the largest stuff in an area now notorious for decades of chemical dumping and pollution. However, this century-old transport ship would be transformed by time into a floating forest, an odd home for trees and other vegetation that have since sprouted over the last few decades.
From 2008 to 2010, a rigorous effort was made to eliminate several of the lingering chemicals in the bush left from the industrial era. Not far away is the Brickpit Ring Walk, a former industrial site where almost three billion bricks were made from 1911 through the 1980s that is now a sensibly protected natural habitat.
With the passage of time, the forest has grown inside the SS Ayrfield, and the bay is now a widespread place for photographers who wish to capture the uncanny sight of this strangely lovely relic of the bay’s industrial past, not to mention nature’s resiliency.
Although there are lots of photographers who’re passionate about photographing numerous abandoned objects, many tourists are drawn to the bay because of the Floating Forest alone. What a beautiful sight this is! The fully-grown mangrove trees earned this ship the nickname “Floating Forest” among the locals. Besides its history of shipbreaking and the spooky ship cemetery, Homebush Bay is home to the Olympic Stadium today as well.
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