Harbourside

Harbourside shopping centre’s best point of attraction is the location — Darling Harbour! If it was a freestanding shopping centre in any other location, it just wouldn’t be nearly as attractive. What you’ll find inside is pretty much as you’d expect in any shopping centre of its size — newsagency, café, clothing shops, and a food court. I wouldn’t call it rubbish, because once again, the jackpot location makes up for the uninteresting range of retailers inside.
It connects Pyrmont and Haymarket, and to Sydney CBD via Pyrmont Bridge, and seriously, there are countless spots around for tourists and locals to visit, from IMAX theatre and Sydney Convention Centre to Cockle Bay Wharf and Sydney Aquarium all within walking distance. My favorite memory here is sitting on one of the stools by the porch off the food court on a rainy night looking out and around the harbour, with a chocolate mint ice cream cone in my hand.

Eyesore central. This area is home to some of Sydney’s most lethal tourist traps. You’ll see them caught, like a deer in the headlights; their doe-​eyed expression-​less faces saying more than they realise; their cameras slung around their necks, faces twisted in grimaces of dis-​enjoyment, as they receive the astronomical bill for their mediocre experience.
The majority of shops/​places are barren, despite heavy local traffic, with the odd exception being the unaware tourist wandering into the traps.
Nightlife does tend to pick up somewhat but there are more interesting venues in close proximity along King St Wharf, or even in the CBD with which to spend one’s time AND money.
Harbourside is the home, of the average shops whose purpose is to fleece non-​aussie visitors of their hard earned by offering them junk. $ 2 internet for 20 minutes, is indicative of a backwards, redundancy-​rich culture and fleeceology 101, in an advanced age where free WiFi is the norm not the exception. The shops are largely a mish mash of chains, over-​priced restaurants, with the odd clever installment (e.g. Cohi Bar) thrown in.
Amid the froth and bubble of the expensive eateries and souvenir shops there is the odd gem, but like the proverbial diamond in the rough, they take some digging to find.
Top floor closest to Pyrmont Bridge cops a fair whack of the traffic, as tourists and locals alike emerge from the bridge into the sanctuary of the air-​con eateries. Boost Juice commingles with Mad Mex, the British Lolly Shop and Grill’d.
Overall, there’s just too little here to be impressed, and that’s saying a lot given the prime location. The sum of the parts is not greater than the whole; and the whole ain’t worth a whole lot.

A pet hate that’s not so much a Grumpy Cat as it is belligerent, slobbering T-​rex — massive shopping centres with no wayfinding.
Seriously. How hard is it?
Unless management are thinking «Hey, let’s get people to wander around aimlessly so they have to walk past every other shop to find the one they want, thus getting exposure to lots of our other great businesses.» Yeah. Nah.
Was dining at Zaaffran. Walked the length and breadth of all 3 levels because there were no signs telling anyone where anything is. Combined with their horrible car park, this is a one-​two punch to the kidneys of customer service of any kind. Bleargh.

The area is a tourist attraction. It’s a great place to people watch, stretch your legs, and grab a bite to eat (although overly expensive).
What I appreciated the most are the many locations for the Hop On-​Hop Off bus in this area. It made transport a lot easier.

While thoroughly a mass mall, this is probably the most scenically situated mall you’ll ever visit, right on the Sydney Harbour. Convenient if you need to pick up anything you’ve forgotten while downtown. On a nice day, have a drink or ice cream at one of the cafes outside for a post-​shopping treat.

Quite the tourist attraction, Harbourside does its best to blend in with its beautiful harbour surroundings. Take your pick at any of the restaurants on its second level and they’re sure to be packed by locals showing off to their friends from overseas (I’m talking about Hurricanes, but without a booking, forget about it). But for its great views and the cool breeze coming from the harbour, the restaurants here are well worth the wait.
Late night shopping from 10am to 9pm, 7 days a week, means this place runs late although I can’t imagine any locals spending money here on anything from some authentic kangaroo paw key rings to some overpriced board shorts.
The real winner here is how accessible the place is. Whether you’re a driver or off on a walk, they have parking at the exhibition centre car park at the back, or you can catch light rail from Haymarket, or the monorail stop just above the complex.

If Harbourside was a person it would be a bit of a youngster who’s grown up in a household of salespeople. I imagine it’s going through a bit of a growth spurt, and in true Darling Harbour style has had a flash redevelopment of the food court, but kept it’s iconic exterior.
The most noticeable characteristics of this youngster was the Timezone, and nowadays it’s the Indoor laser tag place, and the upmarket food court. Both indoor and outdoor seating along the foreshore makes many restaurants here feel breezy and open, perfect for a romantic waterside dinner.

The Cockle Bay complex might have rescued Darling Harbour from the doldrums, but in rencent years, Harbourside has started to pull its weight. It’s got a bit of a tart up, attracted some new names — like Hard Rock Café, Blue Fish and Kazbah — and it’s still the place you come to gorge on ribs at Hurricanes.
Yes, nowadays Harbourside is quite pleasant indeed. Granted there are still the tourist tackilicious shops inside — and every time I walk past the ‘Oxygen Station’ I just shake my head in bewilderment. But if you stick to the foreshore, you’ll be just fine.
Harbourside has come a long, loooong way from my childhood days spent collecting tokens at Timezone and getting treated to KFC for lunch! Oh and there’s even a Mad Mex opening this month — if that doesn’t get people flocking back, I don’t know what will.