ARTS103 - Excursion Report: Darling Harbour and Enlightenment Ideas

This report, submitted for ARTS103, examines Darling Harbour in Sydney, focusing on its historical and contemporary roles within the community and cultural landscape. The report connects the site's evolution to key concepts of the Enlightenment and modernity, such as colonialism, trade, and cross-cultural influences. It discusses Darling Harbour's origins as a transport route for the Eora people, its transformation into a center of trade and entertainment, and its reflection of modern imperialism. The report highlights the influence of European settlement, the development of urban renewal, and the introduction of pop culture elements. It also mentions the Chinese Garden of Friendship as a symbol of cross-cultural exchange. The author expresses enjoyment of the excursion and concludes by reflecting on the harbor's significance as a tourist attraction and its impact on the lives of the people.

RUNNING HEAD: TRIP TO DARLING HARBOR
Darling Harbor: A beautiful Retreat.
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author note

1Darling Harbor: Abeautiful Retreat
Darling Harbor: A beautiful Retreat
Darling Harbor located in Sydney’s heart, aligns with splendid locations of waterside
and beautiful attractions like aquariums with great options available for dining. King Street
Wharf and Cockle Bay located into that area offers bars for wine, funky night clubs and
bistros that serve delicious cocktails and some finer food. It is definitely a beautiful retreat if
anybody wants to engage with self-indulgence (Sydney, 2019). Two of its most attractive
spots are Sydney’s Wild Life Zoo and Sea Life aquarium. One will be totaly enthralled
witnessing the native kangaroos and koalas along with dugongs and sharks from a closely
view (Manea, 2015)
As per Darling Harbor, (2019) previously for 7,000 years or more than that, Darling
Harbor happened to a frontier that created a boundary amongst the Gadigal clans and the
Wangal clans of the people of Eora coast. They utilized the harbor as a transport route to the
Parramatta River and also for the purpose of food. The people of Eora used to call Darling
Harbor as ‘Tumbalong’ that means a place according to them where seafood can be found.
The shores of harbor used to be littered with residues of oyster shells along with
accumulation of other shellfishes present there over thousands or more year. This is what led
the European people to address it as an area known as Cockle Bay.
Now, the place has developed so much making it an attractive spot for the tourists. As
it is one of Sydney’s biggest shopping, dining and entertainment zones, the place is full with
an eventful calendar throughout the year. It marks the presence of modern imperialism and
colonialism with these new additions which were some of the significant features during the
17th century period of enlightenment. As we have learnt, paternalism and colonialism saw a
marked increase in trade, Darling Harbor, being a center of foreign trade and commerce also
reflects this feature.

2Darling Harbor: Abeautiful Retreat
King Street Wharf is located right near the aquarium and zoo from where cruises and
ferries depart and arrive keeping the trade routes still alive. The place also got some fine
quality eateries and contemporary bars that give areas for dining outdoors which are also
trademarks of modern imperialism. The east of Harbor happens to be a massive part of urban
renewal and development. The introduction of pop culture with establishing Hard Rock Cafe
in Darling Harbor marks imperialism (Rose, 2016).
After experiencing an excited day at Harbor, it offers a place to unwind and relax that
is recognized as the Chinese Garden of Friendship. It was built on the honor of friendship
among Guangzhou and Sydney, in the province of China’s Guangdong. Chinese new- year
was performed in 2019 at Tumbalong Park signifying the cross cultural influence. Therefore,
from the previous to the present day, Darling Harbor has evolved a lot in respect to habitat
and tourist attraction. Cross culture influence started in Sydney since harbor started to do
business with people from different culture. The business had influence on the lives of people
and from there cross-culture influence began. I enjoyed my retreat very much and would
love to visit the place again.

3Darling Harbor: Abeautiful Retreat
References
Darlingharbour. (2019). History and Heritage. Retrieved 12 August 2019.
Manea, C.A., (2018). CITY SPACES–TOURIST PLACES: URBAN TOURISM
PRECINCTS. Journal of Urban and Regional Analysis, 10(2), pp.241-243.
Rose, J., (2016). Glocal dialects in the Sydney Jazz Scene: Indigenisation through the
influence of Oz Rock and Asian musics. Context: Journal of Music Research, (41),
p.35.
sydney. (2019). Darling Harbour | Sydney, Australia - sydney.com. Retrieved 12 August
2019.