The Ultimate Newcastle Experience

Every city has their dodgy night clubs, but none do it quite like Newcastle with the aptly named Fannys. Once voted the easiest place to pick up in Australia, it only lost its title when they stopped printing Ralph, the magazine that ran the poll. Fannys is the beginning place for not only many novacastrain relationships (both long and short-lived), but of many Novacastrians themselves.

(Note - Beware for those adding this experience to the own bucket list, Newcastle also has the highest rate of chlamydia in the country.) 

For those who can’t make the journey overseas, Newcastle offers another alternative to leave its shores. Carrington is known as the island (even though it is connected to land and is only a peninsula), mainly because its main entrance is a rather stunning bridge. Despite the bridge, few Novacastrians actually enter Carrington itself, apart from its inhabitants. One reason for this is the Carrington locals. Having been left to themselves for so long in a half-industrial, half-residential suburb, the forces of social isolation combined with the chemicals they have absorbed over the years have made the Carrington locals a strange mob, with a strange glow. So when in Newcastle come see its pretty bridge. Just don’t go to the other side.

Novacastrians have had a long tradition of heading overseas. Each year around Christmas time they pack all their luggage and head across the water to Stockton for a few weeks to experience a different culture. You might not be able to join in with this mass migration but you can still experience the cultural highlights of Stockton just by jumping on the ferry. You can walk up the break wall and the beach, have a feed at the fish and chip shop and wash it all down with a beer from the General Washington. Just make sure you keep an eye on the time, the locals enjoy nothing more than keeping an unsuspecting visitor in a conversation right up until just after the last ferry of the night has left.

Even though you can count the number of celebrities that live or have lived in Newcastle on one hand, every Novacastrain will be able to you a story about their flash with fame; from having been sat on by Nathan Tinkler in primary school to having had both the Johns brothers flirt with their girlfriend on the same night.

When in Newcastle, just start up a conversation with a local about Jennifer Hawkins and wait to hear the story of how they kissed her at a school camp. Or better yet, do as the locals do and make up your own story about your interactions with Newcastle royalty.

Every city has their personalities and Newcastle is no different. Witness the dapper gentleman, a bus, a goat and John. John is a busker and budding artist, who can regularly be found on Darby street or Beaumont street serenading passersby. He plays drums, ukulele and even keyboard, but his voice is what gives him such a distinctive sound. His general business strategy is to get you into conversation, you then end up paying him to sing so you can stop him talking, you then end up singing yourself to drown him out.

Chiseled out of the cliff rockface by convicts in 1819, the Bogey Hole was originally a private bathing spot. Since becoming a public bath, the locals have continued to celebrate its private origins by forgoing their clothes upon entering. The practice has been immortalised in song and is now considered a rite of passage for novacastrians. Best done on a full moon, when the water is warm. Be aware the Bogey Hole is currently closed as it is being redeveloped but that hasn’t been stopping people going in for a dip.

No visit to Newcastle is complete without a look inside Newcastle most famous phallic object. The 40m high structure protrudes from the harbour and dominates the city skyline. The walk up the 180 steps of the blue coloured spiral inside the shaft, is rewarded with 360 degree views from the head of the tower. Novacastrians were so proud of the structure when it was built, that Queen Elizabeth came to christen it at its opening in 1988. It has been suggested that the tower has affected the psychological health of some of the towns residents, giving some an inferiority complex and inspiring  some strange behaviour in others.

In the lead up to the Australian Ultimate Championships, we will be putting together a bucket list for the competitors coming to Newcastle, to help them have the ultimate experience in Newcastle.

Please note that views expresses here are those of the author and not those of Newcastle Ultimate or the AFDA.