Darling Harbour – Water Taxis and Water Limousines
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.[1]
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,[2] 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.
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. There are special water taxi wharves at Darling Harbour – the Convention Centre Wharf, Cockle Bay Marina and King Street Wharf areas all have special space set aside for water taxis and water limousines. There is also a wharf at the Maritime Museum available for water taxis, and you can also catch a water taxi from the ferry wharf at the Aquarium in Darling Harbour.
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.[5][6]
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.[7]
American rock band Silverstein recorded a song entitled “Darling Harbour” on their Transitions EP.