Darling Harbour, New South Wales

Darling Harbour looking towards the east

Darling Harbour is a locality of the city centre of Sydney, Australia. It is a large recreational and pedestrian precinct that is situated on western outskirts of the Sydney central business district. The locality extends northwards from Chinatown, along both sides of Cockle Bay to King Street Wharf on the east, and to the suburb of Pyrmont on the west. Cockle Bay is just one of the waterways that makes up Darling Harbour, which opens north into the much larger Port Jackson.

The precinct and its immediate surroundings are administered independently of the local government area of the City of Sydney, by a New South Wales state government statutory authority, the Sydney Harbour Foreshore Authority.

History

Darling Harbour 1900

Darling Harbour is named after Lieutenant-General Ralph Darling, who was Governor of New South Wales from 1825 to 1831. It was originally part of the commercial port of Sydney, including the Darling Harbour Railway Goods Yard. During the Great Depression, the eastern part of Darling Harbour (Barangaroo) became known as The Hungry Mile, a reference to the waterside workers searching for jobs along the wharves.

Much of the land had been the site of the NSW Railways central marshalling yards and freight consolidation centre. The Enquiry into the NSW transport industry, including rail/road competition, (1978–80) under Commissioner Gavan McDonell, found that this centre was inefficient, should be moved, and the land used for other public purposes. These recommendations were acted upon and by the mid-to-late 1980s, when the area had become largely derelict it was redeveloped as a pedestrian and tourist precinct as an initiative of then New South Wales Minister for Public Works, Laurie Brereton. The Sydney Convention and Exhibition Centre at Darling Harbour was a venue of the 2000 Summer Olympic Games and a key meeting venue of APEC Australia 2007.

Attractions

Western side of Darling Harbour

Eastern side of Darling Harbour at dusk

The Darling Harbour precinct is home to a number of major public facilities and attractions, including:

• Harbourside Shopping Centre which includes Kingpin Bowling Alley (The only bowling alley in Darling Harbour), M9 Laser Skirmish, as well as Australia's first retail Jet flight simulator.
• Sydney Entertainment Centre
• Paddy's Markets
• Sydney's Chinese Gardens
• Tumbalong Park
• Sydney Convention and Exhibition Centre
• Australian National Maritime Museum (featuring museum ships including HMAS Vampire)
• SS South Steyne
• The Star Casino and Entertainment Complex
• Powerhouse Museum
• Sydney Aquarium
• The LG IMAX theatre – the largest screen in the world
• Sydney Wildlife World
• Aboriginal Centre
• Sega World Sydney (closed in 2000)

Transport

The Darling Harbour precinct is linked to the CBD by the Sydney Monorail and light rail by several stations. A ferry wharf near Sydney Aquarium provides access to the Inner Harbour ferry services, which runs services to Circular Quay and other suburbs.

Redevelopment

Darling Harbour with the now closed Sega World Sydney in the foreground

East Darling Harbour is part of a massive urban renewal development. Plans for the 18-hectare site include half business and residential developments, while the other half to be reserved for open public space. The state government of NSW declared plans for "Globe Street", a street designed to become Australia's and Asia Pacific's centre for corporate trade (styled on New York's "Wall Street" district). The urban renewal development is not expected to be completed until 2020. East Darling Harbour will be known as Barangaroo.

This area was the site of the Sydney Port Authority and currently features an Overseas Passenger Terminal (Wharf 8) which is mainly used by the Pacific Dawn of the P&O Australia fleet and MS Sun Princess which is operated by Princess Cruises. It has previously been home port to the Pacific Sun (ship) which is now based in Brisbane.

The area was temporarily used for several events during World Youth Day 2008 including the opening mass.

In pop culture

Darling Harbour is the location of the season residence on MTV's reality TV show, The Real World: Sydney, which aired in late 2007. The house has a large "Darling Harbour" sign along its edge, and the World Tower high rise building can be seen behind it.

Darling Harbour, Harbourside on the left and Cockle Bay on the right, Pyrmont Bridge can be in the in the further back in the middle.

The film Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers: The Movie was shot in Sydney, and featured some scenes filmed in Darling Harbor.^{[citation needed]}

Seven's Saturday morning TV Music Show Eclipse Music TV is filmed weekly at the precinct's shopping centre, Harbourside.^{[citation needed]}

On 27 August 2010, the soap opera Neighbours filmed scenes in the harbour and on board the cruise ship, Pacific Jewel.

American rock band Silverstein recorded a song entitled "Darling Harbour" on their Transitions EP.

External links

• History of Darling Harbour from official website.
• Darling Harbour, New South Wales is at coordinates 33°52′20″S 151°11′56″E