Stinker’s History: Tourism promotion in Port Stephens

I FIND it very interesting to trace the path of the local tourist industry from its very beginnings.

It was inevitable that the wider audience would discover the incredible beauty of Port Stephens and make efforts to either move permanently or visit during holiday periods.

On-water experiences were marketed early on boats and ferries that plied the waters of the port originally as means of transport including Replica, Reliance and ferries Yaacaaba, Waratah and later the Viking sailed by the Yabsley family and the Tamboi Queen built by Bob Asquith which still offers cruises on Sydney Harbour.

Tourism in the Port Stephens area has its origins in the 1870s, with the establishment of small fishing settlements such as Nelson Bay (Nelson’s Bay until 1963) and Anna Bay on the southern side of the port and at Tea Gardens on the northern side.

‘Word of mouth’ would have been the main method of attracting visitors to enjoy the fishing and scenery of the area in the early days, followed later by newspaper articles written by various travellers.

Ocean excursions for tourists to Port Stephens

The first ocean excursions to Port Stephens commenced in the early 1870s on an irregular basis.

They were operated by the Newcastle Steamship Company using small steamships, such as the SS Samson and SS Sydney.

After arrival at Port Stephens passengers were transferred to smaller vessels and landed on shore.

The construction of a wharf at Nelson Bay in 1889 facilitated transport not only for fishermen but quickly began to attract visitors traveling by steamboat on excursions from Newcastle and Sydney.

The peak period for excursions to Port Stephens by steamship was between 1892-1928 following the formation of Newcastle and Hunter River Steamship Company (NHRS Co.).

The ocean excursions were extremely popular.

Up to 700 people could travel on some of the company’s steamships which were large for their time.

A band would often accompany the holiday excursionists on the steam ship.

The steamship company marketed their cruises.

Firstly, they would place advertisements for forthcoming cruises in regional newspapers.

Secondly, following the conclusion of each cruise, the company would send favourable reports to the Newcastle and regional newspapers for publication.

Other companies and interest groups also conducted excursions to Port Stephens, for purposes such as fishing and shooting.

These excursions did not operate on a regular basis and would often transport less than 50 persons.

These small excursions went to places such as Nelson Bay, Tea Gardens and Myall River.

Travel to Port Stephens by coach and small steamboat

Prior to the Second World War, for those wishing to visit Nelson Bay or the Tea Gardens area who did not wish to travel by sea, the only alternative was to use a combination of travel options between Newcastle and the Port Stephens area.

For instance, a land journey from Newcastle to Nelson Bay took almost a full day and involved the following travel arrangements: At Newcastle, travel across the Hunter River by ferry to Stockton; from Stockton travel by a horse drawn coach [often called a charabanc] to Salt Ash; at Salt Ash transfer to a small steam boat and travel along the Tilligerry Creek to Nelson Bay. At Nelson Bay the traveller would probably stay at the Sea Breeze Hotel, or travel across the harbour to Tea Gardens.

Visit Portstephenshistory.com for more.

By John ‘Stinker’ CLARKE