| Tour of Darling Harbour (Sydney)
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Thursday October 18, 2007 (Day 2 morning) |
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We are off to a tour of the Sydney harbour on the "Aussie One" catamaran. Boasting two enormous sails, and a modern and luxurious interior the "Aussie One" is one of the largest sailing catamarans in the Southern Hemisphere. The catamaran had seating for 120 people but there where only (4) four of us onboard plus the crew. It was a great tour of the harbor as you can see from the pictures. Sydney Harbour is commonly referred to as the most beautiful natural harbour in the world. The 240 kilometers of shoreline encompass approximately 54 square kilometers of water, which translates to an enormous area for exploration and discovery. Although there are exclusive homes dotted around the water's edge, there are large tracts of parklands, reserves and gardens that balance the harbour environmentally. It is possible to walk around much of the harbour edge and picnic in many spots. 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 became known as The Hungry Mile, a reference to the waterside workers searching for jobs along the wharves. By the mid-to-late 1980s it had become largely derelict and was redeveloped as a pedestrian and tourist precinct as an initiative of then New South Wales Minister for Public Works, Laurie Brereton. |