I dropped a hint in one of the earlier articles that our plans went awry only once. That happened in Australia. Upon landing in Sydney, we headed immediately about three hours north by automobile along the coast into the Hunter Region. The Hunter Valley formed the most well-known portion of the region, acclaimed for its numerous vineyards. Originally we planned to spend a little time touring the countryside on a wine tasting excursion. We simply ran out of energy. We’d pushed hard for more than a week by that point and decided to stay put instead.
However, the Hunter Region extended beyond the vineyards along the Hunter River all the way to the coast. There we did spend three relaxing days. So while it will sound a little strange to talk about an area without touching on its most recognizable feature, I will attempt to do just that anyway. I’ll get to the vineyards next time.
Port Stephens
It took me a little while to decipher Port Stephens. Eventually I figured it out. It could mean a local government area that encompassed a number of towns and villages just to the north of Newcastle, New South Wales (map). However, it could also mean the large tidal estuary of the Karuah River that formed a large natural harbour (map). The local government area got its name from the adjacent body of water.
I would see the name used in a variety of contexts. I would be like, wait a minute, is this Bobs Farm or is this Port Stephens, because it’s not on the water? Well, Bobs Farm fell within the geographic boundaries of the Port Stephens Council even if disconnected from the actual waters of Port Stephens.
OK. Got it.
Town of Nelson Bay
We spent much of our time in the Hunter Region staying at a large apartment we rented in Nelson Bay (map). Nelson Bay, just to be clear, fell within the boundaries of the Port Stephens Council and bordered Port Stephens, the tidal estuary. We visited at mid-week during Winter so it seemed like a quiet place without much activity. I imagined that it must be considerably different during a summer weekend. Its geographic proximity to Sydney practically guaranteed that.
I wondered if Nelson Bay got its named from Admiral Nelson, like a number of other places in the English-speaking world. Well, maybe.
“No one is sure whether the town was named after Admiral Nelson or a vessel named Lady Nelson. The name may have come from the Lady Nelson which was used by Governor Lachlan Macquarie when he visited Port Stephens in 1812 or it may simply have been named after Admiral Horatio Nelson, the hero who died at the Battle of Trafalgar in 1805.”
I found a bunch of information on the HMS Lady Nelson including the place where she was built, her 1799 christening, the voyages she took, and so on. Unfortunately I never could find out the identity of the Lady Nelson for whom she was named. That seemed odd. Who was Lady Nelson? Maybe it could have been Admiral Nelson’s wife for all I knew, or maybe not.
Nelson Bay Harbour
Nelson Bay, the town, also had a harbour. It formed a part of Port Stephens too, the body of water although I guess it also formed part of the local government area come to think of it. I’ve flogged that dead horse enough. I’ll stop now.
A lot of local whale watching cruises used Nelson Bay Harbour as their starting point during the winter migration season. Maybe that explained the photo of the smiling white whale on the trailer. I’ll talk about whale watching at length in a future installment.
Moving along.
Fighterworld
Leaving Port Stephens and heading back toward Sydney, we stopped outside of Newcastle at Fighterworld (map). It sat sandwiched within a triangular wedge between the southeastern end of Newcastle Airport and the southern corner of Royal Australian Air Force Base – Williamtown. They shared a runway. We enjoyed watching military aircraft take off and land.
My younger son loves military aircraft so Fighterworld became a mandatory stop. He’s visited any number of military aviation museums near air force bases in the United States so this collection offered some interesting new options. He absolutely had to see the De Havilland Vampire and the Hawker Hunter. I’m not exactly sure why. He simply fixated on them when he saw the website. I guess they caught his attention because they don’t normally appear in US military collections, being of British design.
The museum included an attached restaurant called Cafe Fighterworld. I didn’t expect it would be all that busy although it attracted a sizable lunchtime crowd. Everyone wore an Australian air force uniform except for us. Apparently it was quite popular with the folks next door at RAAF Williamtown.
I recommend the milk shakes.
Articles in the Australasian Adventures Series
- Preparations and Arrival
- On the Waterfront
- Vistas
- Geothermal
- Heading Inland
- The Hunter Region
- Wild Animal Encounters
- Captive Animal Encounters
- Epic Runs
- Breweries
- Lists
- Changes
See Also: The Complete Photo Album on Flickr
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