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About the Newcastle Region

Newcastle, the sixth largest Australian city, and its surrounding regions offer a vast array of experiences, from the beauty of Lake Macquarie to ballooning over the Hunter Valley vineyards. The region also offers the benefits of excellent shopping, first class education, public and private health services, a renowned university, buoyant arts culture, vigorous sporting life and cosmopolitan dining. It is a city of Victorian mansions and villas, a fine cathedral, several historical military barracks, a fort, a court house and other imposing public buildings, museums and art galleries.

Home options include ocean, lake and bay water frontages, bush retreats, rural acreages, suburban dreams, inner city terraces and city/waterfront apartments.

Shopping

Australia's lowest supermarket prices for the past six years running according to Choice magazine with 24 hour supermarket shopping available.
Retail complex shopping conveniently located across the region.
Main streets offer alfresco dining and boutique shopping.

Education

The University of Newcastle is renowned for its medical, engineering and architecture disciplines.
Hunter Institute of Technology (TAFE) offers over 500 courses and annual enrolments totalling 50,000.
Vast array of public and private schools including four grammar schools.
Tocal Agricultural College offers agri-business related courses.

Arts

Fine collections are housed in art galleries across the region including Newcastle, Lake Macquarie and Maitland as well as more intimate galleries such as Von Bertouch Gallery, and Watt Space Gallery in Newcastle.
Newcastle's fully restored Civic Theatre is the venue for international and national performances.
The Conservatorium of Music in Newcastle's CBD hosts musical recitals and is home to a Stuart Piano - concert grand pianos built from the ground up by S Stuart and Sons in the Hunter.
The Newcastle Entertainment Centre accommodates concerts for many music genres, exhibitions and conventions.

Sport

Excellent and numerous sporting facilities exist in the Hunter including Glendale Sports and Athletic Centre and the University's Forum Sports and Aquatic Centre.
The Newcastle Knights - a "glamour team" in the National Rugby League are idolised by young and old alike.
Surfing is a high participation sport in the Hunter because of the great selection of pristine surfing beaches.
Surfest, an international surfing event attracting the world's elite surfers, occurs annually at Newcastle Beach.
Sailing, sailboarding, canoeing and water skiing on Lake Macquarie and Port Stephens are popular water sports.
There are an enormous number of uncrowded golf, tennis, swimming, bowls and other sporting facilities

Climate

Mild, temperate climate year round
15 – 20^oC in winter and 20 – 30^oC in summer
500mm of rainfall annually
6.5 hours of sunshine daily on average

Newcastle City Farmer Markets

The Farmer Markets are held every 2nd and 4th Sunday of each month at the Newcastle Showground.

Waterways

The Hunter has pristine beaches, Lake Macquarie - the largest saltwater lake in Australia (four times the size of Sydney Harbour with a foreshore of 174 kilometres), the Hunter River which flows from the Upper Hunter Region, and the beautiful blue bays of Port Stephens.
Residents and visitors indulge in a plethora of water sports - dolphin watching, sailing, waterskiing, surfing, fishing and swimming.

Café Society

Darby Street, Cooks Hill and Beaumont Street, Hamilton are renowned for their cafés and boutique shopping. The Honeysuckle foreshore is also renowned for excellent dining options, and Warner's Bay is a booming cosmoplitan destination.
The winemaking areas of Pokolbin and Broke, offer resort style accommodation, Bed & Breakfast accommodation, restaurants and cafes to enhance its natural resources.
All of the region's waterfront areas attract relaxed and stylish restaurants and cafes.

Health

The John Hunter Hospital, one of Australia's leading teaching hospitals, is the hub of health services in the region.
Hunter New England Area Health operates 24 public hospitals and 12 private hospitals as well as baby health centres in the Hunter Region.

Parks

Parts of the Barrington Tops National Park are world heritage listed. Activities include bush walking, eco-tourism facilities, and white water rafting.
Watagan State Forest exists in the Lake Macquarie Local Government Area.
Blackbutt Reserve, just 15 minutes from Newcastle CBD, showcases native flora and fauna in vast unspoiled bushland.

Heritage

Newcastle is well renowned as the most intact Victorian-era city in Australia. It has beautifully preserved heritage buildings, both commercial and private residences, mostly in the inner city.

Employment Choice

As a centre for health, tourism, education, environmental services, manufacturing, retail, information technology, call centres, finance and insurance, the Hunter offers real employment choice.

Website Links

Newcastle/Lake Macquarie/Port Stephens

Newcastle City Council – http://www.ncc.nsw.gov.au
Lake Macquarie Council – http://www.lakemac.com.au
Port Stephens Council – http://www.portstephens.local-e.nsw.gov.au
Hunter Economic Development Corporation – Hunter Region – http://www.hunterregion.com
More information about Newcastle

Central Coast

Central Coast Tourism - http://www.cctourism.com.au
Gosford City Council – http://www.gosford.nsw.gov.au/
Wyong Shire Council – http://www.wyong.new.gov.au

The University of Newcastle values equity and diversity.