Newcastle Airport, New South Wales

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Newcastle Airport (Newcastle - Port Stephens NTL - as quoted on the Jetstar website) is what I would say a medium-sized domestic airport but is growing in popularity, and has been so for quite a while. It's built with lots of space around it, about halfway between the city proper to the south east and Nelson Bay at the north of the region around this airport. There are a number of vital tips for those visiting that I am very keen to put into this review, so perhaps a list of them would be a great idea.

To start such as list for those wanting to visit Nelson Bay, Port Stephens Coaches departs from a clearly visible bus stop once it becomes in sight, and hopefully, there will be a bus parked to guide you. But if not, then it is past the drop off point, then past the taxi ranks and should become visible. The stop should have a smaller sign in the middle of its main sign with route 130 which goes to Nelson Bay and beyond on the smaller sign with what was clearly times that matched my knowledge of the timetable - in other words the bus times are maintained as up to date and should be a fair guide of when they will arrive. For those more meticulous planners, I have added the link for Port Stephens Coaches timetables relative to their Nelson Bay service and the best phone numbers to call are shown on that website but if really stuck then call the best New South Wales public transport phone number for journey planning and relevant advice on 131500 (it came up on my phone as Tibetan Spiritual Healing, but turned out to indeed be a hotline for Transport New South Wales) or if preferring a range of options and leads for specific information head to transportnsw.info/contact-us . I mentioned this because that northern section has the famous dunes and Nelson as well as Shoal Bay and countless other villages and townships so while Hunter Valley wines, employment in local agriculture and coal mining as well as Newcastle the city proper over the Hunter River to the airport's south east definitely have significance, those resorts of around Nelson Bay have the alluring blue waters as well as the famous dunes and thus are more touristy. Hence knowing about that bus service and how to utilise it will be especially useful for airport transferring, Newcastle city access (it's about a 100 dollar Uber fare in one direction between Nelson Bay and Newcastle if you don't use this bus service). Noted that the rail station is in the city proper but to the industrial focused city's west - yet still convenient enough to the city centre as well. Finally to those especially travelling from outside New South Wales, you can pay bus fares with a debit OR credit card on the day of the journey, especially if catching route 130 to and from Nelson Bay and the airport (which is located in Williamtown).

Moving on from what was a major concept of a public transporation tip about Nelson Bay, the airport's location may seem a total stuff up but it's actually a masterstroke. As to how it got so 'well located' is an interesting point, good planning somewhat. It's just horrible for petrol purchasers and taxi customers but what it's location allows for is spacious runways, and equal distances between Nelson Bay and the city proper. Due to that strong fact, they've got a fair chance to upgrade to an international airport, which as stated earlier is only a domestic airport at the moment. However recently or in the last few years a tens of millions of dollars upgrade has been announced to make it an international airport. I can see why, the locations are impressive, although on a personal level, it's kind of funny how you have to know a bit about these places, Australia is very desirable more than ever at present, and so I can only really attribute its hidden gem status for the sheer competitive nature of and range of destinations in Australian tourism. But as it has some good quality and variety for the tourist, along with strong commercial prowess evident in huge sort of refining and processing structures clearly visible near the Hunter River bridges, if you visit the airport you'll realise as to why it ought to get its upgrade to an international airport. Just for those a bit newer to this touring idea, I will now outline some major points about Newcastle Tourism:

The dunes - although touted as a best kept secret, Worimi Sand Dunes are easy to discover online by typing into Bing or Google 'Newcastle dunes'. I've linked a popular tour idea to help people and interestingly enough on the north arm of the Hunter River from downtown to the airport you will cross a massive bridge which if not driving one can see these spectacular natural formations as like 'a piece of Sahara Desert' between green forests, blue ocean, rivers and townships.

The city - the city has a light rail system that connects the downtown and popular beaches in twelve minutes, departing twice every fifteen minutes.

The surfing - Newcastle's city beaches host popular surfing competitions. There is some information on one such competition linked here at www.surfest.com . While the best place to start for the prospective tourist be it surfing or for any other purpose is, www.visitnewcastle.com.au .

The resorts - heading north of the airport is coast with trademark royal blue waters on a clear sunny day. Shoal Bay, Nelson and Anna Bays are typical resort towns and the area is called Port Stephens which you will see associated with the Newcastle Airport naming rather than Williamtown where it actually is located.

The wine - Hunter Valley wineries are accessible with hire car especially useful as buses go to towns and villages in the Hunter Valley but a car is clearly better for wineries. These are famous wineries and the first of their type, making for a classic gastronomic and historic wine tasting holiday for those with an interest in wine making and tasting.

The history - with more on this town's mega history on the official Newcastle Tourism pages, but a tip is the west is liveable, a bit industrial, a bit eclectic but the contrast between it and the posh resorts is interesting and defintely part of the variety and history for the tourist, it's also where most of the city's rail lines and stations are.
 
Below are some photos of the current terminal building as well as a typical Jetstar plane used for Melbourne flights, Gold Coast as well as Brisbane flights. Having tried such a flight, they're nice enough planes, a bit slow and deliberate rather than really zippy sorts of craft but they're a nice trip and I suppose from Brisbane or Melbourne it's a nice short flight so Jetstar presents cramped seats but exceedingly good value given that they aren't long flights between such destinations and Newcastle.





Conclusively

Newcastle's airport in Williamtown is a compact building with only a few gates yet a mega runway. It's near the coast, halfway between the Port Stephens resorts such as Nelson Bay and the city proper to the south east. It's getting upgraded to an international airport over the next few years due to the overall attractiveness of the region as a destination but also due to the planning of the airport making it easy to accomodate extra traffic. Ubers and taxis are expensive however buses are available for transfers or a combination or both. Newcastle - the destination itself presents some internationally renowned attractions, some hidden gem value and a terrific balance of its beaches, forest, distinct blue waters, fishing, history, wines and the surprise of its industrial history based around coal and railways. This then makes the west of the city a contrast yet explorable if seeking something a bit humble yet relevant to mining, working class Australia, railways, pubs with the typical Tooheys signs and interesting old buildings and a different take on Australian suburban life.

The photos used in this review were credited as from the Newcastle Airport Wikipedia article which is a good source of ideas for planning and in terms of Wikipedia articles is quite free of complaints yet is available in twelve languages and is usable in your travel research - but the photos might not reflect the current state of the airport but the signage is in that shade of green with white writing as seen in the above images of the passenger terminal. There will be staff there who can offer some help for those just arriving and trying to get their bearings. Chargers for devices are few and far between until you get through security, once in the departures lounge they have a variety of seating including facing seats with desks and especially on long seats close to the gates are some excellent charging facilities, I think they have USB ports on either side of a powerpoint between and under the seats.

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