Waratah Accommodation, Hotels, Tours & Information

Waratah

The inner Newcastle suburb of Waratah is just a few kilometres west of the CBD, so it's only a short trip into the city"s rejuvenated commercial and retail centre and to such fine beaches as Bar Beach and Merewether.

Newcastle and Port Waratah played pivotal roles in the early development and ongoing success of the Australian coal mining industry. And it all started in 1797 when Lieutenant John Shortland discovered Newcastle Harbour while looking for escaped convicts. He also found a coal seam on a hill and took a sample back to Sydney for analysis.

In 1913, a record 5.2 million tonnes of coal was shipped from Newcastle - a volume of tonnage not exceeded until mechanised era of the 1960s.

More prosaically, the University of Newcastle is not far from Waratah and neither is the International Sports Centre and Broadmeadow Racecourse.

Novacastrians are also blessed in their proximity to the aquatic pleasures of Lake Macquarie to the south and the culinary delights of the wineries of Pokolbin and the Lower Hunter Valley to the near-west.