Newcastle, New South Wales Newcastle, New South Wales The Newcastle () metropolitan area is the second most populated area in the Australian state of New South Wales and includes most of the Newcastle and Lake Macquarie local government areas. It is the hub of the Greater Newcastle area which includes most parts of the local government areas of City of Newcastle, City of Lake Macquarie, City of Cessnock, City of Maitland and Port Stephens Council. Located north-northeast of Sydney, at the mouth of the Hunter River, it is the predominant city within the Hunter Region. Famous for its coal, Newcastle is the largest coal
State Dockyard, Newcastle dock was scrapped in 1977. In 2007 the outline of the painted "STATE DOCKYARD" sign on southern roof of the former dockyard building could still be viewed from above. As of 2014, the surviving State Dockyard built ships are "Cape Don", a lighthouse tender built in 1962 for the Commonwealth Lighthouse Service which is now a museum ship at Balls Head Bay, Waverton. The ferries "Lady Herron", "Freshwater", "Queenscliff", "Narrabeen" and "Collaroy" continue to operate for Harbour City Ferries, while former Sydney Harbour ferries "Lady Cutler" and "Lady McKell" operate as cruise boats on Port Phillip. State Dockyard, Newcastle The