Oliver of Otterburn reporting in again, this time from Newcastle-(upon-Hunter).
I am in Newcastle, the second city of New
South Wales – not the Newcastle of northern England so close to my farm.
My friends, Margaret and Ray, have taken me to see their son Rohan, his lovely wife Ainslie and their little son Toby.
I had a lot of fun playing with Toby and his toys. He is a happy little fellow who just loves to stuff things in his mouth. So it was a bit scary for me, but luckily I escaped, slobber-free.
Newcastle is a fine city. It is a port city, at the mouth of the Hunter River.
There is an attractive riverfront walkway with gardens, restaurants and new apartment buildings.
Just a short distance away is the surf beach and the large ocean baths.
For wine lovers the vineyards of the Hunter Valley are only a brief drive away.
While we were down at the riverfront a huge coal ship was escorted out of the river by three tug boats.
The coal is railed down from open pit
mines in the Upper Hunter Valley, loaded in Newcastle and shipped off to China, Japan and Korea.
As soon as the big ship left the river it
was replaced by another, coming in to be loaded.
There is always a queue of ships waiting to enter port. This is Australia’s contribution
to global warming.
I worry that little Toby will pay a price because the peoples of today will not listen to the warnings of so many scientists.
I am now back in Sydney, but I believe that I will be on the move again in a couple of weeks time.
There is also a 'Morpeth' in New South Wales, not far from Newcastle upon Hunter.
ReplyDeleteIt is too much of a coincidence that Newcastle upon Hunter is a great coal exporting city just like Newcastle upon Tyne used to be. We have a Morpeth just 15 miles from Newcastle upon Tyne too.
It would be interesting to discover the connection.
The presence of coal at a river mouth about 100 miles north of Sydney was known relatively shortly after the founding of the colony in 1788.
ReplyDeleteAround the year 1800 some convicts were sent there to attempt the mining of coal. Methods were doubtless very primitive but met with sufficient success that Governor King decided to establish a secondary penal colony there. Up to that point the district had been known as Coal River.
Gov King felt that a more salubrious name was required and, as was usual, sought for some connection with England. He used the connection with England's premier coal port - Newcastle-upon-Tyne. Later the connection was carried further by naming the surrounding County of Northumberland (one of the original 19 counties of NSW, these counties are no longer relevant) - other Northumberland names can be found close by - Morpeth, Gateshead, Wallsend, Hexham, Jesmond). I rather like the historically apt original name of Coal River, but it was totally expunged when the river itself was named after second governor of the colony, Admiral John Hunter.
Ltnt Charles Menzies was sent to the newly named Newcastle in 1804 - to establish a distinct penal settlement - convicts found guilty of further offences in Sydney were sent there to mine coal - it was a place of particular brutality - to the disgrace of the human race there were others (Norfolk Island, Moreton Bay, Port Arthur). Thankfully the Newcastle (upon Hunter) of today is a happier place.
..ray hudson