One thing that Newcastle does well & that is we put on events that showcase the fabulous harbour location. Whether it is New Years Eve, Australia Day, the Mattara Festival & even
Truck Awareness Day is held next to the glittering jewel that showcases all the beauty of this wonderful city.This time it was the 2009 Maritime Festival, celebrating 210 years of Newcastle being Australia's 1st commercial port & although the weather was as co-operative as it could have been, the day was still spectacular.
There were skydivers, The RAAF Roulettes Flying Team, RAAF Hornets flyovers, stunts planes,heaps of stalls, free music & heaps more to see. Of course most of the action was centered around the harbour, where you could step aboard the HMAS Parramatta or the James Craig tall ship, watch the jet ski or wakeboard racing & watch the Newcastle Port Corporation tugboats perform their very special ballet routine.
Late in the afternoon the 292 mtr, 91,373 GRT (gross registered tonnage) bulk carrier Genco
London left port bound for Taiwan fully loaded with Hunter coal. This ship is one of the largest bulk carriers that visit Newcastle & can only leave on the highest tide due to the fact that she only has 1.5 mtrs clearance under her keel, which doesn't leave much room for error! If you look closely at the attached photo, you'll notice
the fisherman in the runabout trying desperately to start their engine to get out of the way of the wash from this huge vessel.
It was a really highly entertaining day & the best part part was that most activities were free. Yep, Newcastle really knows how to turn on a special day.
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