Summary:

The Coach departs Central Coast travelling up to the historical town of Morpeth, the passengers will have the time to enjoy morning tea & browse the beautiful shops.

From Morpeth, we will then continue up to Nelson Bay for lunch where passengers will have time to browse the shops and purchase lunch at one of the many cafes and coffee shops at their own expense. 

After lunch, the coach will make its way back to the Central Coast with a quick stop at Birubi Point to view Stockton Beach. We then drive past some of the sites of Newcastle, including Nobbys Beach, the ANZAC Memorial Walk, Merewether Beach & Kooragang Island.  After departing Newcastle, we will continue back to the Central Coast via the Coast road.

Brief history of Morpeth:

The town of Morpeth was initially created through the private actions of Lieutenant E.C.Close, who selected a property of 1,000 hectares and developed it as a river port from 1831-1841. The lieutenant built his house, known as Closebourne, on the property. A two-storey Georgian home made of sandstone, the house became an episcopal residence from 1848-1912, which eventually became the nucleus of St John's Theological College on Morpeth Road.
The river port grew steadily throughout the 1830s; St James's Church, Tank Street, was built from 1837 to 1840. It was partly designed by John Horbury Hunt and now has a Local Government Heritage listing. A major merchant at this time was James Taylor, who built a bond store circa 1850, located near the bridge and now heritage-listed. The town continued to expand. Morpeth Court House was built circa 1861 in a Greek Revival style; the police station followed in 1879. The construction of the Great Northern Railway in 1857, bypassing Morpeth, meant that Newcastle developed as the regional port. Morpeth became less significant commercially, but still survived as a township with its own history and heritage.

The town today is a tourist destination due to its many historical buildings and river bank setting.

Brief History of Nelson Bay:

Nelson Bay is a coastal resort town of approximately 5000 people located just inside the mouth of Port Stephens, a large natural harbour. Despite its growing popularity the town, treads a sensible line between tourism and charm. Nelson Bay, the largest town of the Port Stephens area, is 223 km north of Sydney via the Pacific Highway, 69 km from Newcastle by road and 18 m above sea-level.The origin of the town's name is not known. It may have derived from the boat the Lady Nelson used by Governor Macquarie in 1812 when he came to visit the Port with an eye to establishing a settlement which never eventuated.

A group of Chinese fishermen established a base here early in the 19th century. They cured their catch and sent it back to China and to Chinese merchants in Sydney and Melbourne.

The first survey of Nelson Bay was carried out in 1874. A post office and school were established in 1883. By 1886 there were about 30 residents. The villagers led a rather peaceful life based around fishing (still important to the local economy) until developers arrived in the late 1960s.

Brief History of Newcastle:

In September 1797 Lieutenant John Shortland became the first European settler to explore the area. His discovery of the area was largely accidental; as he had been sent in search of a number of convicts who had seized HMS Cumberland as she was sailing from Sydney Cove. While returning, Lt. Shortland entered what he later described as "a very fine river", which he named after New South Wales' Governor John Hunter. He returned with reports of the deep-water port and the area's abundant coal. Over the next two years, coal mined from the area was the New South Wales colony's first export.
During World War II, Newcastle was an important industrial centre for the Australian war effort. In the early hours of 8 June 1942, the Japanese submarine I-21 briefly shelled Newcastle. Among the areas hit within the city were dockyards, the steel works, Parnell Place in the city's East End, the breakwall and Art Deco ocean baths. There were no casualties in the attack and damage was minimal.

The Port of Newcastle remains the economic and trade centre for the resource rich Hunter Valley and for much of the north and northwest of New South Wales. Newcastle is the world's largest coal export port and Australia's oldest and second largest tonnage throughput port, with over 3,000 shipping movements handling cargo of 95.8 Mt per annum, of which coal exports represented 90.8 Mt in 200809. The volume of coal exported, and attempts to increase coal exports, are opposed by environmental groups.