Fingal Bay near Nelson Bay. Burnt out scrub at Barry Park Lookout.
Image by denisbin
Port Stephens.
Port Stephens was named but not explored by Captain James Cook in 1770. This region of great natural beauty, surrounded by national parks and reserves is actually the submerged estuary of the Myall and Karuah Rivers. One of the ships from the third fleet to bring convicts to Sydney entered Port Stephens in 1791. Escaped convicts came to Port Stephens in the 1790s and in 1816 the first of the Australian Red Cedar timber fellers arrived. Land grants begin after 1820. One of the first settled sites was at Tanilba Bay. Heritage listed Tanilba House, privately owned, is the oldest building on Port Stephens. In 1831 Lieutenant William Caswell was granted 50 acres and some assigned convicts to clear the land. He soon planted grave vines and olive trees on his land. Caswell, his wife and eleven children left the house when assigned convicts were stopped in the early 1840s. The derelict house was restored in the 1890s and has been occupied since. There are many little settlement around Port Stephens including Hawks Nest, Tea Gardens, Bundabah, Carrington, Karuah, Tanilba Bay, Soldiers Point, Salamander Bay and Nelson Bay. But one local land developer had grand ideas to create Port Stephens City in 1918. Henry Haloran purchased land and commissioned Walter Burley Griffin who designed Canberra to design his port city. He hoped that it would became the major port of NSW. He selected a site opposite Soldiers Point on North Arm. The city plan reflected many of Walter Burley Griffins ideas used on Canberra but land sales did not eventuate and the city never developed. Look on Google Earth and you can see the outline of this failed city in the current street pattern at North Arm Cove.
Nelson Bay.
The main area around Port Stephens that did develop was at Nelson Bay. Remember in 1801 Lieutenant James Grant explored here in the Lady Nelson ship and he was also the naval officer who also first sighted Mt Gambier and named it in 1800. The town was not surveyed until 1874 just two years after the Nelson Head lighthouse was erected. The first school opened in 1879 and by the mid-1880s a small village for fishermen existed. The town really grew during world War Two when American and Australia armed forces were trained here. The hospital from the training base is now the Community Arts Centre. Today it is a booming tourist and retirement town with around 12,000 residents. Apart from having a lunch break you could visit the Port Stephens Community Art Centre, The Artisans Collective gallery, Stitches and Art shop etc. On the way to Nelson bay we passed Williamtown. The RAAF base was established there on 15th February 1941. Near Nelson Bay is the spectacular coast and National Park with Shoal Bay, Tomaree Headland and Fingal Bay.
