I thought that as I had already done a month of photos from Port Stephens (the area where I live) and also last month Morpeth, I thought that this month I would now post photos of Newcastle.
All the photos taken this month are ones which I have taken since starting 365, but they have not so far had an airing. Sometimes, because we take so many photos, many of our shots slip through the cracks and the aim of my Topics album is to show photos which have so far done just that.
Newcastle is about 60 km from where I live and is the second most populated area in the state of New South Wales.
162 kilometres north of Sydney, at the mouth of the Hunter River, it is the predominant city within the Hunter Region. Famous for its coal, Newcastle is the largest coal exporting harbour in the world.
Pre-European settlement Newcastle and the lower Hunter Region were traditionally occupied by the Awabakal and Worimi Aboriginal People, who called the area Malubimba.
In September 1797 Lieutenant John Shortland became the first European to explore the area. His discovery of the area was largely accidental; as he had been sent in search of a number of convicts who had seized HMS Cumberland as she was sailing from Sydney Cove.
While returning, Lt. Shortland entered what he later described as "a very fine river", which he named after New South Wales' Governor, John Hunter. He returned with reports of the deep-water port and the area's abundant coal. Over the next two years, coal mined from the area was the New South Wales colony's first export.
Newcastle gained a reputation as a "hellhole" as it was a place where the most dangerous convicts were sent to dig in the coal mines as harsh punishment for their crimes.
This first photo of Newcastle is of the wharf and central Newcastle, you can see the cathedral dominating the landscape. The photo is taken from the other side of the Hunter River at Stockton.
Today's main album photo
http://365project.org/onewing/365/2014-08-01
@pcoulson Thanks Peter for the fav. I love taking photos in Newcastle.
@dianeburns
@pittcj17
@pittcj17 Thanks cindy, have tagged it. I guess there are lots of windows in this shot.
The cathedral is very high up too. You get a nose bleed walking the steep streets to get to it ha ha.