Our Working Harbour

One of my favourite pastimes in Newcastle is to grab the camera, grab a few dollars (so I can buy a proper coffee) & head down to the harbour for a couple of hours.

People keep saying to me 'haven't you already enough pictures of coal ships?'

Perhaps

But everytime I go down there, I see that something different is happening. E.g. the picture taken above shows two coal ships, the one leaving is the Matsuura & the one entering is the Shin Sapporo Maru. Now I've never seen two coal ships, with the six attending tugs, using the port simutaneously. It was a real credit to all, including the two attending ships pilots*, that this was done without incident!

The picture below shows of of Newcastles fishing fleet returning back to the marina, accompanied by a flock of seagulls (birds, not the music from an obscure '80s band!) & pelicans. I watched as performance continued all the way up the harbour & until the boat berthed ... it was just amazing.

So even on what started as a misty Newcastle winters morning ended turning into a beautiful sun drenched afternoon, full of surprises. It made the 6hr walking trip around the harbour well worth the effort.

(* the pilots are from Newcastle Port Corp & they take control of all heavy shipping in & out of Newcastle Harbour.)