EVENTS AND ATTRACTIONS HILLSBOROUGH

Waking from a dream and the vision of swimming with Dolphins and Autistic children, in 1996, Andrew began an odyssey of adventure, one that would transform him from a humble residential builder and developer, to one of Australia’s leading dolphin experts and facilitator of Dolphin Assisted Therapy.

This journey has taken Andrew around the world in search of locations for his extraordinary work, meeting many leading experts who share his vision and passion for Dolphins and Whales.

As a father of three young boys he is excited about working with youth and currently resides as president of the Newcastle NSW Australia based charity RUSH Haven Inc. Andrew has recently joined ORRCA as part of the trained marine mammal rescue unit and highly recommends the organisation.

Andrew shares his knowledge of Cetaceans, his passion for training and achieving results, spirituality and healing with the help of an enthusiastic team and the wonderful and loving Dolphins with as many people as he can aboard the wonderful 50 foot catamaran ‘Imagine’ at Port Stephens.

Andrew invites you to join one of his remarkable programs in Port Stephens or in the south pacific ( Ha’apai Tonga) and share the profound experience of the Dolphins and Whales.

DolphCom’s team of professionals is committed to assisting human evolution and exploring human potential to produce profound outcomes.

Come in to Hunter Ice Skating Stadium at Warners Bay and enter a whole new world of frozen fun. Whether you’re planning on being an ice hockey star, winning Olympic Gold in figure skating, or just having a bit of fun and learning the new skill of ice skating, the cool dudes at Hunter Ice Skating Stadium will make sure you have the best fun you can have standing up. We also have a canteen facilities available for refuelling afterwards!

And if someone in your family is having a birthday soon and you want to spoil them with something different, Hunter Ice Skating Stadium can cater for birthday parties where we supply the fun and the food, and everyone else just concentrates on having fun on the ice. Work and corporate functions and social group activities are also welcome here.

So next time you’re looking to cool down and try something new, or if you’ve been on the ice before, we’d love to welcome you to Hunter Ice Skating Stadium, easy to find just up the road from McDonalds off Macquarie Road, Warners Bay. Take a look through the all-new website for Hunter Ice Skating Stadium to find out all about the most fun you can have standing up, and we'll see you here soon.

As well as the public skating, and the ice skating sports like ice hockey, figure skating and speed skating, Hunter Ice Skating Stadium is also the perfect venue for a party or function.

Stockland is Australia’s largest diversified property group. We develop and manage residential communities, retirement living villages and retail centres – the building blocks of thriving communities.

Stockland Jesmond is located on the corner of Blue Gum Road and Mordue Parade, approximately 9 kms North/West of the Newcastle CBD.

The centre provides a Woolworths and Big W plus 74 specialty stores offering a convenient range of homewares, fashion, food and services including Australia Post, banks and ATMs. The centre also offers customers the convenience of a Priceline Pharmacy, a Medical Centre and a large GoLo.

With over 900 car parking spaces, parking is easy and convenient.

Westfield stylists are here to help you turn your look from drab to fab! Take advantage of these great Fashion Services, available at the Hunter's Leading Fashion destination.

Shopping with children can be easy at Westfield Kotara! We have Kiddie Cabs available for hire and a variety of facilities, such as Kids Playworld, Parents Rooms and Parents with Prams Parking.

At Westfield Kotara we offer FREE parking for the first 3 hours!

We also offer parking for disabled shoppers on all levels near the centre entrances, Parking with Prams on Level 2 & 3, to make it safer for your children, located conveniently near the lifts and escalators directly into the Centre.

For more information about this service, please contact the Customer Service Desk on 02 4016 2570 during centre trading hours.

$85.00pp -  lunch not included
$120.00pp - two course restaurant lunch included

Showing you the beautiful Hunter Valley wine country and tasting some of the best wines that the hunter has to offer.

Best Tour (Bestour) is family owned and operated and has been giving the best fully escorted small group wine tours to the Hunter Valley Vineyards since 2001.

Pick up is from your accommodation. Your driver guide is friendly, knowledgeable and flexible. Your tour vehicle is modern, air conditioned and has adjustable seats. Which ever tour you choose, you will take home with you lasting memories of a great day out! For great group tour prices please email besttour@bigpond.com

Blackbutt Reserve has a long history of exhibiting captive wildlife. The first enclosures were built in the 1960’s. Since that time the exhibits have been relocated from Lookout Road to the Carnley Avenue entrance.

Blackbutt Reserve contains a number of multi award winning wildlife exhibits. The exhibited animals and the interpretative signage located along the boardwalk (both wheelchair and pram friendly) provide an opportunity for visitors to observe the fauna and learn about each species.

There are birds including the Australian King Parrot, mammals like the Bruck-tail Rock Wallaby and even reptiles such as the Eastern Long-necked Turtle.

Koala Feeding 2pm daily
Learn interesting facts about Koala's behaviour, physiology and habitats by our trained staff and volunteers. Bookings are not required for koala feeding.

Picnic spots - Blackbutt Reserve has five main picnic area each with their own unique features making it easy to find a location to suit your needs.
Blackbutt Junior Rangers

Guided tours - Blackbutt Reserve offers a range of guided tours for private and community groups.

Blackbutt Reserve playground - A new regional playground has been built at Blackbutt Reserve and was designed for 2 to 10 year olds.
 

After we have all the passengers onboard we will head to our first winery.

Midweek tours can be a MYSTERY tour. A lot of the time we may wait until all the passengers are onboard and after discussing with them what and where could be of interest we decide what to do. Your driver will then try and make arrangements with the wineries concerned to make the bookings. Normally we will spend around 45mins at each winery. Depending on passenger numbers we will visit 2 wineries before heading to lunch, this will be at a restaurant/winery where you will have a 2 course meal ( mains and dessert) if lunch option is chosen,  after tasting the wines on offer. The lunch stop including tasting is between 1.5  and 2 hrs duration we will head off and visit 2 more wineries during the afternoon before we take you back to your accommodation for a well earned rest.

Weekend tours are more organised as this is the busiest time for the Valley.

You can let us know when you make your booking if you have some favourites you like to visit and we will do our best to at least fit some of these into the day.

The story of the Hunter Wetlands Centre Australia is nothing less than inspirational.

Until the mid 1980s this vibrant wetland refuge was a dump in every sense of the word!  Over the previous century, the massive Hunter estuary wetland system known as Hexham Swamp had been progressively filled for rubbish, railways and recreation, leaving only fragmented patches of remnant wetlands across the estuary. A significant patch of wetland in Shortland was converted to football fields and a clubhouse. This one-time home ground of the Hamilton Rugby Club was to become the eventual site of the Hunter Wetlands Centre.

Today, Hunter Wetlands Centre Australia is a vibrant wetland ecosystem bursting with life. The site is regarded as a wetland of national and international importance and the centre enjoys a growing reputation for excellence in wetland conservation, education and ecotourism.

This remarkable transformation was due to the determination and persistence of the local community and some far-sighted organisations, who have joined forces to protect and restore this remarkable wetland for the benefit of all who depend on it… and those who simply enjoy it!.

 iSurf Newcastle Surf School was founded by former World ranked professional surfer and talented surfboard shaper Jye Byrnes. Jye grew up surfing the beaches of the beautiful city of Newcastle and the world when competing. Jye has now turned his knowledge and experience of the water and boards, to a surf school, aimed at getting new people to enjoy the wonderful world of surfing and improving the ability of those who are already addicted.

Learn to surf in safety, with iSurf Newcastle surf school. We cater for all ages and skill levels. It’s never too early or late to learn to surf, or improve your skills on a board.

At iSurf Newcastle Surf School, all instructors are experienced qualified surf instructors holding ocean safety, blue cards (working with children check), senior first aid and are competent advanced surfers in their own right with many still to competing.

iSurf Newcastle Surf School promise to provide the safest environment to learn to surf. Our instructors get out there in the water with you, encouraging and supporting you along the way. We pride ourselves on having instructors who love to surf and are well respected members of the Newcastle surfing community.

Our lessons are well structured and individually tailored to the needs of the students. Designed to promote personal development and water awareness, through the excitement of learning to surf.

Surfest Surf School has been running Since 2000 along side the premier event Surfest. Originally coaching kids once a year in the Surfest Festival - sponsored by Newcastle Permient and Newcastle Herald. We saw a real need for a year round establishment. So opening full time in September 2003 Surfest Surf School has never looked back. Rhys Smith founder has a passion for surfing - competing internationally in the World Qualifying Series. luckily for us Rhys spends his off season - our summer teaching the up and comings and anyone who wants to get out there to surf.

We operate from Nobbys Beach as it is the safest beach in Newcastle. This location offers a perfect beach break for learn to surf, we nestle in to the corner that faces north east which provides consistent waves protected by a southern headland, sheltered from prevailing winds and larger swells.

‘The Olive Tree Market’ is part of the renaissance currently taking
place in Newcastle’s artisan community. Started in 2008, ‘The Olive
Tree Market’ is the first dedicated artisan market in Newcastle and
is the ‘launching pad for over a hundred creative minds!’

The market is constantly growing and evolving with new artisans joining the market each month. ‘The Olive Tree Market’ has a strong emerging artists section with an eclectic array of exciting stalls.

The Olive Tree Market was born from the desire of the three organisers to create a community artisans market that provided Newcastle’s contemporary art, craft and design practitioners with an arena to showcase their work. The aim was to create a vibrant culturally diverse atmosphere where artists could interact with their contemporaries and the wider public and sell their work without large overheads.

Within months the idea became a reality and we found the perfect location with the gorgeous sprawling grounds of ‘The Junction Public School’. We launched ‘The Olive Tree Market’ with 60 stalls in October 2008 and 18 months later the market had 100 stalls each month.

There are also two additional markets in the coming months - November 17th & December 15th as well as our BIG Christmas Market on December 1st