Heart and Coal in Newcastle

Have you heard the saying, “It’s like carrying coal to Newcastle”? The saying which means to do something pointless or superfluous originated in Newcastle, England, where the expression dates back to the 1600s, but the Aussies in Newcastle, Australia, also claim it as their own. It turns out both cities have a legitimate claim. Newcastle, England, was the United Kingdom’s first coal exporting port and Newcastle, Australia, is currently the largest coal port in the world. (Newcastle, Australia, however, is currently trying to move away from a carbon-centered economy.)

Australia’s second-oldest city was permanently established in 1804 as a penal colony originally consisting of 34 convicts and a military guard. The convicts were treated harshly, working long days mining coal. By 1826, however, the Australian Agricultural Company took over management of all government mining and the penal colony moved to Port Macquarie.

I think of coal as an especially dirty commodity so I assumed the largest coal port in the world would be among the dirtiest, most unappealing ports ever but I was in for a big surprise! Shuttle buses picked us up at the pier and transported us immediately to the attractive town center. I took a photo of the sign below with a map of the town to help us find our way first to Fort Scratchley. As it turned out, the photo was the only map we had since we were told the town was out of tourist maps due to the recent large influx of cruise ships. Our walking route is enlarged below.

You can find several other self-guided walks and maps on the Visit Newcastle website but our route, while not planned in advance, showed us a good sample of Newcastle’s sights.

We walked along the foreshore, then climbed the hill to the fort.

Customs House in the background

Looking back along the foreshore with a view of the cathedral high on the hill

View as we climbed to the fort

Fort Scratchley was established in 1882 in response to hostilities between England and Russia resulting in fear of attack by Russian ships to obtain coal.  Colonel Peter Scratchley was put in charge of planning the fort which would subsequently be named for him.

A Russian ship, His Imperial Royal Majesty’s Ship Rynda, did sail into the port in 1888 causing great consternation but the feared attack never materialized. Instead, an attack came from Japan in 1942 when a submarine, the I-21, shelled Newcastle with over 30 rounds. The troops at Ft. Scratchley returned fire but the sub escaped unharmed. Today, the fort is an interactive museum with many devoted volunteers who love to share these stories and more with visitors. As cruise ships depart Newcastle, they fire a three-gun salute from Ft. Scratchley but it’s rather a point of pride that they’ve never hit a ship.

Quarters at the fort

No. 1 and No. 2 guns 

Jim and No. 2 gun

View from Ft. Scratchley toward the Norwegian Jewel

Jim and I enjoyed the view of Nobby’s Beach and Nobby’s Lighthouse

A volunteer regaled Jim with stories about Ft. Scratchley

The walk down to Newcastle Beach was easier than our climb up to the fort. We had a chuckle over the sign at the beach announcing the nudie Australian Boardriders Battle but we missed the competition which was scheduled several days after our visit. My research on the internet revealed no surfers competed in the nude so I’m at a loss to explain the name. It is, however, the largest surfing competition in Australia.

Newcastle Beach

After enjoying views of the beach, we climbed back up the hill to Christchurch Cathedral. The cathedral is the mother church of the Anglican Diocese of Newcastle where the Bishop resides. Construction began in 1892 but was never completed. In 1974, the roof sustained major damage as the result of a terrible storm and the building was finally repaired and finished in 1979. Disaster struck again in 1989 when a serious earthquake occurred and restoration following the event was finally completed in 1997. Today, the cathedral is beautiful both inside and out.

Cathedral Church of Christ the King

The banners on either side of the nave depict saints and angels

Interior of Cathedral

I was fascinated by the beautiful needlepoint covers on the kneelers.

Kneelers with needlepoint covers

When I asked an employee what the symbols were on the kneeler below, quite a discussion ensued.

They finally determined the six symbols represent the six states in Australia.

New South Wales: the cross of St George with lion and stars

Western Australia: a black swan

Tasmania: a red walking lion

Queensland: a blue Maltese cross and crown

Victoria: the southern cross

South Australia: the Australian piping shrike

Following our visit to the cathedral, we walked downhill one last time and to our great delight, we discovered Harry’s Cafe de Wheels, the iconic pie cart. Established during the Depression by Harry Edwards to provide cheap food outside the Woolloomooloo naval dockyard in Sydney, Harry closed his business when he enlisted during WWII. He reopened after the war in 1945 and the business has operated ever since. This early version of a food truck became “de Wheels” because the city council required food caravans to move at least 12 inches each day so Harry’s became Harry’s Cafe de Wheels.

Harry’s is known for pie and having pie in Australia was on my “must-do” list. This pie, however, is no ordinary pastry; it’s a meat pie. Lori and I decided to share the signature Harry’s Original Tiger pie made with beef, mushy peas, mash, and gravy. YUM!

After our sustenance at Harry’s, we were ready to return to the Norwegian Jewel. We had reservations at the French restaurant, Le Bistro, to celebrate a romantic Valentine’s Day with our sweethearts that evening.

I know Jim looks either inebriated or totally smitten in the photo below but honestly, he was just hamming it up for Valentine’s Day.

Join us next time for fun at the Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary.

Based on events in February 2019.