Patricia, Rob and Barbara Hickey take a ride in the dinghy. Photo: supplied.
THE 1950s was a time of great excitement for nine-year-old Patricia Hickey. She, along with her brother Robert and sisters Barbara and three-year-old Susan, had moved into the Port Stephens lighthouse keeper’s residence with mother Millie and her father Bernie. Living around lighthouses was not a new experience for Patricia as the family had recently […]
The Tomaree Coastal Walk at Boat Harbour within the Tomaree National Park. Photo: D Parsons, DCCEEW.
The Tomaree Coastal Walk at Boat Harbour within the Tomaree National Park. Photo: D Parsons, DCCEEW. The Worimi Conservation Lands. Photo: E McGauley, DCCEEW. NATIONAL Parks in the Hunter-Central Coast region attracted 8.1 million visits in the 2024-25 financial year, up from five million in 2022. This accounts for 12.4 percent of all national park […]
The census aims to create a statewide snapshot of where dolphins are found and what habitat they use. Photo: Dolphin Research Australia.
PORT STEPHENS residents are invited to register as a volunteer and help protect dolphins by taking part in the first statewide Dolphin Census on Saturday 30 May. The one-day census is a collaboration between Dolphin Research Australia and NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS) to create a statewide snapshot of where dolphins are found […]
Archie Thompson, known to all as ‘Youngun’, returned to Port Stephens on the ‘Dawn’ after active service in New Guinea during the war years. Youngun was considered to be a master navigator. John Plooy is pictured in the background cooking the prawns.
THIS is part two of a multi-story series on the “Dawn”, a boat which holds a special place in the history of commercial fishing in Port Stephens. Visit portstephens.newsofthearea.com.au/printed-edition-16-april-2026 to read part one, or grab a copy of last week’s paper. WITHOUT Archie Thompson’s knowledge Ted Johansson quit, leaving the boat under the control of […]
Sailor Ruth Boydell has released a compelling memoir covering her adventures across the globe. Photo: Galen Boydell.
HUNTER-BASED sailor and death doula Ruth Boydell has released a memoir, “Rocking the Boat: A Life in Three Voyages”, outlining global ocean adventures in the days before GPS and chartplotters. Ruth’s story begins at the age of 17, when she joined a thirty-something Englishman who was single-handing a sailboat around the world. The adventures came […]
2025 Hunter Volunteer of the Year David Dorhauer with Pat Conroy MP and Dungog councillor Liam Ley.
IT’S time for people across the Hunter to nominate family, friends or work mates for the 2026 NSW Volunteer of the Year Awards, to help celebrate the enormous positive impact of volunteers across the state. The awards are in their 20th year and are run by The Centre for Volunteering to recognise the outstanding work […]
Newcastle wharf 1957. The ‘Dawn’ tied up with John Plooy in the foreground and Ted Johansson mending their nets. Smoke can be seen coming from the old Stockton vehicular ferry. The fisherman with Ted is Bill Collett who built and worked the ‘Redfish’ and later the ‘Bodalla Star’.
IT was 1865 when a lone seaman on board a Norwegian sailing ship jumped off the deck onto the wharf in Stockton and ran from the authorities. The illegal immigrant changed his name and became known as Captain Henry Thompson – so beginning the long line of Thompsons, a family who have made a major […]
Minister for Gaming and Racing David Harris (centre) opening the new facilities at Scone. Photo: supplied.
MINISTER for Gaming and Racing David Harris officially opened new facilities at Scone Race Club on Tuesday, 7 April, as part of a $36 million investment into racing in the Hunter. He also visited upgrade works at Muswellbrook and Cessnock race clubs. At Scone, the NSW Government’s Racing for the Regions program allocated $20 million […]
Local MPs celebrate the progress with the project team.
THE M1 Pacific Motorway extension to Raymond Terrace is now expected to open to traffic in late 2026, more than a year earlier than originally planned. The accelerated timeline comes as the project reaches a major milestone, with the northern section, the Heatherbrae Bypass, now complete. The M1 Pacific Motorway extension and Hexham Straight widening […]
MORE than 60 Councils from across the state have issued a call for the NSW Government to guarantee fuel supplies for local government garbage and waste collections in the face of increasing shortages and costs. The meeting of councils convened by Local Government NSW (LGNSW) President Mayor Darcy Byrne also proposed that any fuel cost […]
