We are beginning to plan a 4-6 week trip to Australia (first time). We have gotten most of our feedback from friends who have been there. Two things we definitely want to do is go to the Great Barrier Reef and the other is that we have a home exchange in Newcastle at their request.
My questions are 2. First, would you suggest taking a cruise to see the Barrier reef or do our own thing like snorkeling (have never done). Second, if we are in Newcastle for a week what would you suggest we do? Thanks.

Gosh Newcastle! I guess I will upset some people here but Newcastle for a week would be somewhat daunting. However if you use it to sleep in then you can take drives out to the Hunter
Valley Winery area, go to the Myall lakes and rent a boat and drift along the quiet waters there & watch the birdlife. Go to places like Port
Stephens ( sp??). Take the train to Sydney to spend the day once or twice and finally spend the day with the postie on the Hawkesbury River which is a lovely days outing. All those places are not too far away.
As for the GBR, do your own thing by renting a car and seeing the surrounding areas and taking tours out to the reef and yes, do some snorkeling even if its your first time and you will be hooked on it. Make sure you leave enough time in North Queensland and the GBR to see all that there is to see and don't rush it as its a wonderful place.

I would endorse LizzyF's suggestions. Newcastle hasn't yet completely rid itself of its "steel city" image (the BHP steelworks actually closed several years ago) but is improving in leaps and bounds and is the hub of a great region. The inner city and nearby ocean-fronting area have retained a lot of nice 19th-century buildings and there's been considerable harbourside development (including at least one very good seafood restaurant), and there are good casual dining strips in Darby Street, Cooks Hill and Beaumont Street, Hamilton. You'll have no difficulty fililng in an enjoyable week
in and around "Newie", and as Liz points out it's only a couple of hours to Sydney via a comfortable interurban electric train service.

I agree with Lizzie and Neil about side trips. In terms of Newcastle itself, the surf beaches are very good if you are coming in Spring or Summer.

If you are interested in art, there's a good regional gallery in Newcastle and the City Art Gallery at Lake Macquarie (south of Newcastle).

Newcastle also has proud tradition of producing some of Australia's theatre, music and comedy talent, some of the local clubs could be worth checking out.

Here's a link from the Sydney Morning Herald with more ideas:

http://www.smh.com.au/news/New-South-Wales/Newcastle/
2005/02/17/1108500198331.html?s_cid=GTSMH1&xA=0

Hi newenglanders,

Regarding the Newcastle section of your itinerary ....

Newcastle now trumpets itself as the "Gateway to the Hunter – be prepared to be surprised"; although certainly not disclaiming its roots as an industrial ‘steel works’ town, it does have its great beaches and beautiful parks. As well, a lovely promenade along the banks of the Hunter River all the way from the old Customs House/Railway Station to the new housing development known as Linfield Estates, with the Queens Wharf eateries and popular Brewery along the way.

In spite of its industrial/worker image, it has always been an especially productive environment in the arts, most notably, for current music lovers, the band <i>silverchair</i> and for beauty lovers, the lovely Jennifer Hawkins of Miss Universe (or was it World?) and ‘wardrobe malfunction’ fame; and of course, not least its culinary arts in Darby Street, as Neil mentioned

For more details, check out www.newcastletourism.com - and if you have time, take a tour through the city centre on the old Newcastle Tram (departs from Central station) with its guided information on history/culture.

For the attractions of Port Stephens, just 45 mins drive from Newcastle on Nelson Bay Road, try www.portstephens.org.au for more info, and for the Hunter Valley Wine Country, Barrington Tops and Lake Macquarie try www.huntertourism.com

One of the surprises might be that a week is not enough!

Have a great time,
Jackie

Ssshhhhh! Newcastle is a secret! Besides great coastal and mountain scenery, the local people are friendly and helpful, and I'm sure you will find a week here happy and relaxing. Will you have a hire car for day trips? As Liz &amp; Neil said, the train trip to Sydney is a lovely day out - some of the trip is along the lower reaches of the Hawkesbury River and is scenic, and you'll have a couple of hours to get to know the locals on the train.
Where exactly is your home exchange? Maybe we can have a cuppa together?
Newcastle has a wonderful beach, an easy walk from the CBD. If you like walking, there's a great walk along the Hunter River to the beaches, and from Merewether Beach to Glenrock Lagoon. There's a good live band culture here for young people. Take the Stockton Ferry and walk out to see the shipwreck embedded in the breakwall. Sometimes on the weekend, you can get a ferry up the Hunter River to Morpeth, once a busy export port, now a tiny touristy place, and I think every Wed. there's a harbour cruise.

There won't be a lot of tourists here (though we now get an occasional tour ship) so you will get to see a bit of the &quot;real Australia&quot;, maybe a bit back in the fifties ( due to a very conservative government in the past) but a lot of us like it that way!

You can snorkel from Nelsons Bay if the weather is OK, and there are dolphin &amp; whale watching cruises in season from there too. On the way to the vineyards, drive to the top of Mt Sugarloaf for an overall view, and walk along the escarpment overlooking the Hunter River Valley - easy bush walking. Take some snags for a barby!

Only been to Newcastle once - and have to say I thought it had a lot going for it - and also that, like often in Australia, I was phased by the names there - Jesmond, Wallsend, etc. Don't suppose they will mean anything to you.

I think it would be a great place to base yourselves for a week - things to see, places to go already mentioned above.

As for snorkelling - you should know that even to snorkel you need to take a boat. There is nowhere I know of that you can snorkel off a mainland beach.

But you don't need to take a &quot;cruise&quot; as generally understood. There are loads of days trips from Cairns, Port D, Cape Trib, etc. Or if you prefer, from Airlie Beach down in the Whitsundays. Or, or, or.

But you could take a cruise if your budget stretches that far - and go to Lizard Island. Or you could take a heli flight and go to Heron Island.

Tossing these out as places for you to consider and research.

All depends really on what sort of holiday you want.

Thank you Lizzy, Neil, Susan, Jackie, Carabella and Chimani for your very helpful responses. This is our first time on this website and I am almost as excited as I am about home exchange. Planning a trip to Australia seems to be an awesome challege so this is so helpful. I am not sure if I can reply to individuals so if it is possible can someone please let me know how to do it? In the meantime this is for Carbella. Thanks for the invite! We would love to have a cuppa when we are there. The home exchange address is Shortland, Esplanade??? The couple is coming to our home in Vemont, MA next week so we will meet them personally. We are now looking for an exchange in Sydney so wish us luck.
Newenglanders

newenglanders, the only way to contact other posters &quot;off line&quot; is to post your email address here so the target can mail you directly.

This is fine when you want to have a conversation that will be of little or no interest, or relevance, on this forum. But the etiquette is that general travel info that may be helpful to other Fodorites is best shared on the forum.

NewEnglanders...
if you are interested in a small,quiet apartment about 2 miles north of the sydney downtown drop me a line at the email above.

We spent a few days in Newcastle while attending a wedding. So, we didn't do much tourist stuff, but we really did enjoy ourselves. The beaches were beautiful, and for me the bathing pools were such a different concept that I found that fascinating. I took some nice walks in the area.

Hunter Valley was a great day trip, and, if you are indeed bird watchers, my husband used a guide out of Newcastle who was fantastic. If you are interested I can dig up his name. I know we looked recently and he is still in business (just can't remember the name at the moment).

Dear Newenglanders,
Shortland Esplanade is directly behind Newcastle Beach - your home exchange will be fabulous!
When are you coming? As Neil says, it is not advisable to use this site to exchange personal info., but I could arrange a temporary email, I think, if you don't have one to share.

Just remembered the &quot;Koala Experience&quot; at Blackbutt Reserve, which I shared with a friend and her New York based son two months ago. It is free to see the koalas from above, in a very modern enclosure, but the Experience lets you into the very large cage with them as they are fed. You can touch, but not cuddle them, and you have a personal guide. We also got to touch a wombat. This was more informative than touristy, and quite fun. You would need a car to get to Blackbutt, I think for ease, but buses probably go past, and the Depot is not far from Shortland Esplanade.

You will love Newcastle. In my opinion, it is the real Australia.

It is no longer industrial and is a great place to live, work and play.

As others have said, there is plenty to do and it is also conveniently close to so many other places, if you can tear yourself away.

Port Stephens
Hunter Valley Vineyards
Myall Lakes
Lake Macquarie
Central Coast
Sydney
Port Macquarie
Forster Tuncurry
and more.......

Shortland Esplanade is right on the beach in Newcastle. We also have many other beaches. All gorgeous.

As mentioned, a trip to Blackbutt Reserve, a large oasis of green in the middle of suburbia, is essential. It is free to enter and there are heaps of kangaroos, koalas, emus etc for your enjoyment.

Make sure you get tickets to a Newcastle Knights game.

Jenny, a proud Novocastrian.

I have fond memories of Newcastle. My in-laws used to own a pub there (the Beauford Hotel) and my wife and I visited them there many times. In the 1980's it was a very industrial kind of place, but I was always amazed how beautiful the beaches were, right in close to town. We did nice drives up to the Hunter Valley, Forster and Port Stephens. Unfortunately, we never did the trip up to Barrington Tops (didn't even know of it then) and still would like to check it out sometime.

Ralph (another New Englander)

I think you will have a great time in Newcastle. If you are into old books there is a terrific s/h book shop is Cook's Hill as well as other interesting shops as well. It is a great place to center yourself to get to the wineries of the Hunter Valley and also take road from Maitland to Barrington Tops/ Glocester for a really nice drive - then perhaps onto Forster on the coast or take the road to Armidale on Australia's New England.

Great Barrier Reef
If cruises are your thing you will see lots of the reef and islands. Be aware if the weather is rough, 4 days on a cruise mightnt be too good. The cruise ships up this way arent that big.
You can do a great trip to the reef from either Cairns or Port Douglas that will visit three reef sites.
If you just wish to snorkel then I would suggest wavelength
www.wavelength.com.au

Dear NewEnglanders,
There's now an extra tourist attraction within walking distance from where you will be staying - the Pasha Bulker, a very large red bulk coal carrier ship aground on Nobby's Beach. It's a great sight, and they said it won't be moved before the high tides expected next month. (July)
See www.abc.net.au/newcastle