northern arm of Broken Bay, an inlet on the coast of New South Wales, Australia. It was explored by Capt. Arthur Phillip, first governor of New South Wales, in 1788–89 and named North-East Arm; the name subsequently was altered to Brisbane Water to honour Sir Thomas Brisbane, sixth governor of the colony. Because of difficulty of access, development of the region was slow until the completion of a bridge across the Hawkesbury River in 1889. Early activities included the growing of sugarcane and bananas, shell burning (for lime), timbering, and shipbuilding. The area today is largely given to fishing and tourism, and a large proportion of the rapidly growing population commutes daily to Sydney, about 25 mi (40 km) to the south. The Rip bridge (opened 1974) crosses Brisbane Water at its narrowest part, near Woy Woy. Brisbane Water National Park and Bouddi National Park are nearby. The main population centres in the area are Gosford and Woy Woy.