of Sydney. It is located on the southern shore of Sydney Harbour adjacent to the city centre, close to where Sydney was first settled in 1788. The close proximity to Circular Quay and the views of the iconic Harbour Bridge, as well as the historic nature of many of the buildings, mean that the Rocks is very popular with tourists. It features a variety of souvenir and craft shops, and many themed and historic pubs. The Rocks Market operates each weekend, with around 100 stalls. There are numerous historic walks through the area, visiting historical buildings such as Cadman's Cottage, Sydney Observatory, and the Dawes Point Battery, which was the first fortified position in New South Wales. Sydney Tower Sydney Tower is Sydney's tallest free-standing structure, and the second tallest in Australia, the Q1 building on the Gold Coast being the tallest. It is also the second tallest observation tower in the Southern Hemisphere after Auckland, New Zealand's Sky Tower (Auckland); though Sydney Tower's main observation deck is almost 50 metres higher than that of the Sky Tower. The Sydney Tower is a member of the World Federation of Great Towers. It is known by locals as the Centrepoint Tower, after the shopping centre building the tower sprouts from. Sydney Tower Skywalk, or just Skywalk, is an open-air, glass-floored platform circling Sydney Tower at a height of 260m above ground level. The moving viewing platform extends out over the edge of the main structure of Sydney Tower. This attraction is more than twice as high as the popular BridgeClimb walk to the top of Sydney Harbour Bridge. From the platform the seaward horizon is 58 kilometres away, although inland features such as the Blue Mountains can be seen at further distances. See Sydney Attractions Group. Darling Harbour Darling Harbour was redeveloped from an industrial wharf to a major tourist and retail precinct in 1988, and is home to a number of major public facilities and attractions, including: Sydney's Chinese Gardens Tumbalong Park International Convention Centre Australian National Maritime Museum (featuring museum ships including HMAS Vampire) The Star Casino Sydney Aquarium the IMAX theatre Wildlife World The Darling Harbour precinct is linked to the CBD by the Pyrmont Bridge Kings Cross The Kings Cross area is infamous in Australia as being a red light district, similar to Kings Cross, London with numerous strip clubs and "girlie" bars along Darlinghurst Road, although