Newcastle, Australia.Located on the eastern seaboard of Australia, at the mouth of the Hunter River, Newcastle started life as a penal colony but became a large shipping and commercial centre by the mid 1860s after the discovery of large coal deposits closeby and industrialisation increased after iron and steel mills were built in 1915.
Built around this large working harbour, Newcastle boasts a famous university, ten beautiful beaches and any number of picturesque parks and offers residents and visitors alike ample recreational opportunities including surfing, beach fishing and swimming in the fabled Ocean Baths. During the severe weather and flooding which occasionally besets the city, business operates as normal with cafes, shops and services being cosy havens from the outside conditions. Newcastle has many attractions even when you can't visit the major beaches. A short two-hour drive north of Sydney, Newcastle is within easy reach and offers access to attractions including rainforests, wilderness areas, and extensive vineyards as well as a buzzing music, nightlife and cafe scene.
There are plenty of places to eat along Hunter street as well various other shops but the main shopping areas are out of town slightly. Heading south out of Newcastle you will come across Garden City which is a large indoor shopping centre and there is also another large shopping complex at Charlestown, south along the coast from the city. Newcastle is also popular for surfing and Newcastle Beach is a good surfing beach next to the town centre where they hold the annual surf competition 'Surfest'. Just north of there is Nobby's Beach which is sheltered and therefore good on windy days, depending, of course, on which way the wind is blowing. Further south along the coast is Merewether Beach which is good for swimming and is probably the most popular surfing beach in Newcastle and during the summer months Bar Beach is floodlit at night, and so is a great place to go to relax or surf in the evenings.
If not into art or "old things" there are plenty of other things to do. Nearby there are a number of nature reserves which are very beautiful. Blackbutt Reserve offers you the opportunity to go bushwalking and the chance to see a variety of wildlife around the park as well as in the enclosures and the aviary and you can head to the Wetlands Ecopark, which offers similar attractions. Both are worthwhile and are great on a sunny day. You can also hop on Newcastle's famous tram which takes you around the historic sites of Newcastle, just head to the train station on the hour between 10.00am - 3.00pm. Near here the ferry also departs for Stockton on the other side of the port. Stockton Beach runs along the coast to Port Stephens. The main train and bus stations are near the peninsula point, heading out towards Nobbys Head. Trains run several times a day to Newcastle from Sydney, the journey taking about 3 hours and there are also several bus companies which travel the Newcastle to Sydney route, including Greyhound. If you decide to drive to Newcastle you can either take the Pacific Highway or the freeway, the Pacific Highway skirts the Central coast if you want to stop on the way, but if you're in a hurry the freeway is usually slightly faster. Once in Newcastle the STA (State Transit Authority) buses run around Newcastle and the surrounding area. On Thursday 28th December 1989 an earthquake registering 5.6 on the Richter Scale devastated Newcastle and killed 13 people. The epicentre was located near Boolaroo, a Lake Macquarie suburb 15km from the city centre. The tremor was the first in Australian history known to claim human lives. On 8 June 2007 the Hunter and Central Coast regions were battered by the worst series of storms to hit New South Wales in 30 years. This resulted in extensive flooding and nine deaths. Thousands of homes were flooded and many were destroyed.
During the early stages of the storms the 225-metre (740 ft) long bulk carrier ship, MV Pasha Bulker, ran aground at Nobby's Beach after failing to heed warnings to move offshore. The Pasha Bulker was finally refloated on the third salvage attempt on the 2nd of July 2007 despite earlier fears that the ship would break up. After initially entering the port for minor repairs it departed for major repairs in Asia under tow on 26th of July 2007. There are plenty of options available to you if you're looking for Newcastle accommodation, including apartments, hostels and hotels. Accommodation in Newcastle is located both in the city itself, as well as near the various beaches nearby. There are also plenty of restaurants to choose from, the main eating areas being along Beaumont Street and Darby Street. Newcastle also has a lively entertainment scene, music is very popular and there are often live bands playing in the pubs.
Now when you come to visit us in Newcastle you'll need somewhere to rest your bones won't you? Well we've made that easy for you, just fill in the squares in the little box on the right and we'll take you to our page of Newcastle hotels where you'll find a list of all the hotels in Newcastle, their prices, facilities, pictures and just about eveything else you could want to know. Go there now and check it out. As I said at the start, Newcastle, well worth a visit, enjoy, John.
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Newcastle is built on a peninsula with the sea to one side of it and the Hunter River to the other and the main street, Hunter Street, runs parallel to the River. 
There are several museums in and around Newcastle as well as an art gallery, all of which are worth visiting.
The Hunter and Central Coast regions were declared natural disaster areas by the state Premier, Mr Morris Iemma, on the same day. 
