Dispatch by Jill Lowe
Coals to and from Newcastle, NSW, Australia Newcastle: the gateway to the Hunter Valley, was historically a coal and steel town, and so the closing of the BHP steel works in 1999, shifted the focus to the port with its excellent harbor. A modern city with excellent restaurants, amazing coastline of the Pacific Ocean, it has many undulating and steep hills and cliffs. The elegant and updated foreshore, thanks to initiatives such as Honeysuckle development in early ’70’s, allows for views of the many ships using the harbor. City architecture is impactful and features examples of Classical Italianate Renaissance, Victorian, through Brutalist Modernism paying homage to Le Corbusier. The thundering surf, beautiful beaches, brilliant sunrises, glorious sunsets, changing colorful flowers and trees, birds that seem never to shut up, strings of cloudless days with cerulean skies, make Newcastle so enticing.
Juxtaposition of ocean, harbor, coastal walks, downtown shops and restaurants sets the stage for a walkable livable city.