bobstevens

The company that have offered me a job in Oz have asked to go to Newcastle, anybody have and experiences: Good or BAD

Sleeping Beauty

my brother lives at anna bay/port stephens (40 mins north of newcastle). he works there. industrial town, but the surrounding area is georgeous. lucky you, i say!!

mumomonty

The town's improving all the time. I was there in Sept last yr and impressed with what they'd done. Stunning outside the town too.

Boomerang

Never been there, but i do have a friend that lives there and owns a company, like it was said before it is an industrial city, but improving, i keep hearing mixed views about the place from friends.


All the best.

Grayling

It's a big lively town.

Busiest coal exporting port in the world so quite industrial.

Biggest town in the Hunter valley.

Not particularly cheap housewise.

scene of Australia's worst earthquake involving loss of human life. 12 people killed by a 'quake in the 1980's.

lots of nice beaches (and good surf).

G

kiwichild

Is Newcastle in the Hunter Valley? I thought it was up near the coast near QSLD? Is that like the top of the Hunter Valley?

Grayling

It is at the east end of the Hunter valley...about 180 Km from Sydney.

G

kiwichild

Ah OK Cheers for that. I have also heard its okay.

29palms

Coincidently it is very similar to its namesake in the UK. The are a lot of similarities between Newcastle NSW and Newcastle in Tyne And Wear.
They have both been huge coal exporters in their history. Newcastle (UK) was the worlds biggest coal exporter back in the early part of last century and now the one in Oz is the biggest.
Both traditionally Industrial cities. There are loads of surrounding towns with the same name ie, Wallsend and Hexham.
Both have had a lot of redevelopment in recent years.
Both have a football captain called Alan Shearer (Well thats a lie!!)
Quite a few connections between the two

Ceri

Good experience
I used to live down there.

Most people think of Newcastle as just an industrial city if they've never been there - Newcastle has some very beautiful beaches , Stockton beach is beautiful ,it runs all the way up from Newcastle to Nelson bay and doesn't get very crowded.
Newcastle is like a hidden gem - Many immigrants tend to head for the major cities like Sydney, Brisbane etc.
I think a lot of people just think "industrial" when they think of Newcastle , when it is not all like that - very far from it.


It used to be pretty cheap down there, but houses have shot up with the boom like anywhere else . I was very tempted to buy a house I saw there which backed right onto lake Macquarie ( Swansea side) - it was just $145! , but we were brought to Aus to open up a company in Brisbane ( our Head office is in Newcastle - hence why we lived in Newcastle for just over a year before coming here to Brisbane) .
The house was sh*te mind you ( old little fibro beach house ,which I would have knocked down to build on) , but the land was perfect, the back garden was backing right onto the water - I'd hate to know the cost of that land now, there are probably luxury flats on it now .Another one I nosed at - Brick four bed two streets away from the beach - $165 . It was cheap as chips for what you got , Those were the days before the boom. I Wish I bought some investment property down there now.

Anyway, people down that way I found to be very down to earth , friendly, beaches and countryside in the Newcastle areas and surrounding Newcastle is stunning - If I was staying in Aus forever and had a choice between Brisbane, and Newcastle - I'd be back down to Newcastle like a shot. (I can't stand Brisbane - I find most of it so ugly , very toy town ugly and lacking in real beaches unlike Newcastle . I find it's lacking in oomph lol)

I haven't really got that many bad words to say about Newcastle. I liked it, and would live there over Brisbane anyday

P.s And if you're into fishing you're going to the right place.

Good luck

smidgemum2

We just had a lovely weekend out of Sydney, staying in a little cottage that backed directly onto Lake Macquarie. Absolutely beautiful and tranquil. Saw loads of bird life and a big octopus in the shallows of the lake which the kids thought was great! Spent time messing around in a canoe, kayaking and having a go at fishing. We didn't actually make it up to Newcastle which would have been about 30 mins drive from where we were staying, but we did go into the Hunter Valley and into some wineries! Again, beautiful scenery - in some ways reminded me of the UK - very green! Although we were only there a couple of days, we thought it was great and plan to go up that way again for longer.

Macquarie

Shhhhhhhh..... that's how we Novacastrians like to keep it - hidden!! ha ha

Stuck

Me and my husband worked in Newcastle for 3 years. Love it there. Quite a good night out to be had as well. It is beautiful, surrounded by water and pretty trendy in the centre.