Sydney - Darling Harbour and Chinatown Travel Guides | Sydney | Sub Regions | Sydney - Darling Harbour and Chinatown

Revitalised for the city’s bicentennial in 1988 and continuously developed ever since, Darling Harbour has become one of the most celebrated, diverse and most popular tourist venues in Sydney. The modern facades of its two main waterside attractions, the Sydney Aquarium and the Australian Maritime Museum, together with the Sydney Fish Market on its fringe, all provide fascinating insight, entertainment and a stark contrast to our own relationship with the ocean and the other creatures that make it their home. Elsewhere, a general emphasis on brash modern architecture, nightlife and entertainment is accentuated at the Star City Casino, where the melodic trickles of numerous water features fall like the tears of the luckless and the ruined. Other notable attractions include the Powerhouse Museum, with its remarkable plenitude of artefacts, the IMAX Theatre, with its own big bombardment of the senses, and a wealth of trendy restaurants, bars and nightclubs. In contrast, the Chinese Garden of Friendship, towards the southwestern fringe provides a little serenity before giving way to the old and chaotic enclave of Chinatown, the epicentre of Sydney’s Asian community and a place where the hungry tourist meets the condemned lobster.

Sights

Aquarium Pier, Darling Harbour, T 9262 2300, http://www.sydneyaquarium.com.au 0900-2000. $23, children $11, family $49 (Aquarium Pass with ferry from Circular Quay, $27.40, child $14.30). Explorer bus stop 21.

A modern, well-presented aquarium like Sydney, with over 650 species, cannot fail to impress. The thing about this aquarium is also the fact that it is not all fish. On show are imaginative habitat arenas, where saltwater crocodiles, frogs, seals, penguins and of course the bizarre and enchanting platypuses all await you. Without doubt the highlight of the aquarium is the Great Barrier Reef Oceanarium; a huge, superbly crafted and stocked tank with vast walls of glass that give you an incredible insight in to the world’s largest living thing and the mind-bending array of other life that depends upon it. Of course, many visit the aquarium to come face to face with some of Australia’s deadliest sea creatures, without getting their feet wet. There is no doubt that such beauty and diversity has its dark side, as the notorious box-jellyfish, cone shell, or rockfish will reveal.

2 Murray St, T 9298 3777, http://www.anmm.gov.au 0930-1700 daily. Tickets range according to the number of attractions, from the basic Gallery Pass at $10 to the Super Pass at $20, children $6- $10, family $25-$45. The Maritime Museum is easily reached by foot across the Pyrmont Bridge, or by Monorail, LightRail or the Sydney Explorer bus, stop 19.

The National Maritime Museum, deliberately designed to look from the outside like the sails of a ship, offers a fine mix of old and new, in both diversity and scale. For many, its biggest attractions are the warship MHS Vampire and submarine HMAS Onslow, the centrepieces of a fleet of old vessels that sit outside on the harbour. Both can be thoroughly explored. Volunteer guides take you through the cramped interior. The interior of the museum contains a range of displays exploring Australia’s close links with all things nautical, from the early navigators and the First Fleet and the ocean liners that brought many waves of immigrants, to commerce, the navy, sport and leisure. Other attractions include a café, shop, sailing lessons and a range of short cruises on a variety of historical vessels. Don’t miss the beautifully-restored 1874 square rigger, the James Craig, which is moored to the north of the museum at Wharf 7. After completion she will set sail again offering another historic cruise option.

Pirrama Rd, T 9777 9000, http://www.starcity.com.au 24 hrs. Best accessed by foot or by Monorail, LightRail or the Sydney Explorer bus, stop 19.

Set back off the harbour and facing the city is the Sky City Casino. Even if you are not a gambler the complex is worth a visit, especially at night, when the many and varied water features that are incorporated into its curvaceous design spring to life in a water and light extravaganza. The casino is open 24 hours a day and there are also two theatres, a nightclub, restaurants, cafés and bars, a hotel and a health club.

Bank St, Pyrmont, T 9660 1611/ T 9552 2180, http://www.sydneyfishmarket.com.au From 0600. Tours Mon-Fri from 0700. Sydney Light Rail or bus routes 443 from Circular Quay and 501 from Town Hall (or walk from Darling Harbour).

For anyone interested in sea creatures, the spectacle of the Sydney Fish Market is highly recommended. It is a place where wildlife (albeit dead) and commercial trading combine in one fascinating arena. Every morning from 0530, over 2,700 crates of 100 species of seafood from fisherman’s co-ops and aquaculture farms in NSW are sold to a lively bunch of 200 buyers using a computerised auction clock system. The best way to see the action, and more importantly the incredible diversity of species, is to join a tour group which will give you access to the auction floor. Normally the general public are confined to the viewing deck high above the floor, which, although giving an overview of the action, does not offer the same detail. Also within the market complex are cafés, some excellent seafood eateries and a superb range of open markets where seafood can be bought at competitive prices. The best time to get to the markets is about 0600. Things start to wind up at about 1000 when most tourists are as bleary eyed as the fish.

500 Harris St, Ultimo, T 9217 0111, http://www.phm.gov.au 1000-1700 daily. $10, children $3, family $23. Monorail, LightRail or Sydney Explorer bus stop 17.

When it comes to collections the Powerhouse Museum is exactly that: a powerhouse of nearly 400,000 items collected over 120 years. Of course only a fraction of these can be displayed at any one time, but there is undoubtedly something for everyone and it remains Australasia’s largest museum and (according to itself) Sydney’s most popular. Housed in the former Ultimo Power Station, there is an impressive range of memorabilia, from aircraft to musical instruments, mainly with an emphasis on Australian innovation and achievement, and covering a wide range of general topics from science and technology, to transportation, social history, fashion and design. Given its size and content you may need more than one trip, with half a day being barely enough to cover all the highly interactive displays. There is a shop and café on site.

320 Harris St, T 9552 3375 Pyrmont. Wed-Sun 1000-1700, $10, children $5, family $20.

Only a short walk from the Powerhouse Museum is Motor World, where car buffs can drool over more than 150 rare and everyday vehicles, motorcycles and automotive memorabilia.

Darling Harbour, T 9281 3300, http://www.imax.com.au 1000-2200, $16.20, children $10.80, family $38, Explorer bus stop 22.

Next door to the Darling Harbour VIC, on the Cockle Bay waterfront is the eight-storey IMAX Theatre, which shows several one-hour films, with some in 3D, from 1000 daily.

Darling Harbour, T 9283 7477, http://www.outbackcentre.com.au 1000-1900 daily. Performances Tue-Fri 1300, 1500 and 1700, Sat and Sun 1300,1400, 1500 and 1700.

Facing Tumbalong Park in the southern section of Darling Harbour, and next door to the Chinese Garden, this is little more than a glorified souvenir shop with a free 30-minute live show presenting outback imagery and featuring didgeridoo playing in order to lure in the crowds. If you intend going to the Northern Territory there is also a specialist travel shop and booking agent.

Wed-Sun every half hour from 1930.

Darling Harbour is spectacular at night when the Waterscreens show springs to life with a light and music spectacular, using multicoloured lasers projected on to two, fine mist fountains in the middle of Cockle Bay. Shows alternate using classical, jazz and popular music and the animated images are excellent.

Further along George Street and occupying the southwestern corner of the CBD is the Haymarket district and Chinatown. The Chinese have been an integral part of Sydney culture since the Gold Rush of the mid 1800s, though today Chinatown is also the focus of many other Asian cultures, including Vietnamese, Thai, Korean and Japanese. The district offers a lively diversion, with its heart being the Dixon Street pedestrian precinct, between the two pagoda gates facing Goulburn Street and Hay Street. Here, and in the surrounding streets, you will find a wealth of Asian shops and restaurants, many of which stay open well past midnight.

Corner of Harbour and Pier Sts, T 9281 6863. 0930-dusk daily. $4.50, children $2, families $10.

At the northwestern corner of Chinatown is the Chinese Garden of Friendship, which was gifted to NSW by her sister Chinese province, Guangdong, to celebrate the Australian Bicentenary in 1988. It contains beautiful craftsmanship and landscaping, including a teahouse that provides the ideal sanctuary from the stresses of the city.

T 1300 361 589, http://www.paddysmarkets.com.au Fri, Sat, Sun 0900- 1630. On the corner of Hay and Thomas Streets.

Paddy’s Market is one of Sydney’s largest, oldest and liveliest markets. It is also one of the tackiest.

Travel Guides | Sydney | Sub Regions | Sydney - Darling Harbour and Chinatown
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