The Hunter Valley Zoo is located in the vineyards near Cessnock New South Wales. There is a small car park near the entrance as well as parking on the road outside.
Although a small zoo, it has a wide range of animals ranging from native Australian to lions, cheetahs, meerkats birds and reptiles. If you are local or an international visitor it’s a fantastic place to visit.
The staff were all friendly helpful, letting us know what was available to see and when various displays were happening. A map of the zoo is included in the entry fee, to help find your way around.
Food
There is a good variety of food and drinks available inside the admission building. A spacious grassed area is available for visitors to use, and has a free gas BBQ.  Families are encouraged to being eskies and have a picnic in this outside area.
Feeding the Animals at Hunter Valley Zoo
The admission building sells animal food so that kids and adults can feed animals. Staff will tell you which animals can be fed, but generally it was any enclosures that you could enter.
There is a petting zoo where visitors can get up close to some animals and feed and pat them. Animals here ranged from kangaroos and deer to farm animals.
Getting Around the Zoo
All tracks at the Hunter Valley Zoo are dirt and grass and constructed to make them wheel chair friendly. As it’s not very big, getting around is very easy.
All enclosures have steps for the kids to stand on to see animals better. This is a great idea, even for shorter adults.
During the day there are scheduled shows for different animals. These are great as they give an inside into the animals and there needs.
Koala
Cheetah
Lion
Ostrich
Albino Kangaroo
Animal Encounters
The zoo offers encounters with the meerkats and some of the smaller monkeys. For a fee, you get access to the enclosure with a guide for twenty minutes. Participation is limited to groups of four. We went into the meerkat enclosure and had a great time. They climbed all over us, ate from our hands and even perched on top of our heads. If you can afford it, we highly recommend the experience.
Meerkat Encounter
A Meerkat on Lookout Duty
Other Facilities
The toilets were clean with disabled access and change tables.
There is a good souvenir shop near the entrance.
The zoo is busier in school holidays as families take the opportunity to visit with their children.
To see what else there is to do in the Hunter Valley, please see some of our other stories.
Mount Sugarloaf is a mountain peak near Newcastle and is the site to several important transmission towers (television and mobile phones). The drive to the top is windy and the road narrow, so take care. On the way to the summit there are several place for picnics, some of them with short walking tracks into the surrounding bush. At the top there is a car park and more places for picnics and for the kids to play. There is also a track to the very top with some great views.
Transmission Tower on Mount Sugarloaf Newcastle
Mount Sugarloaf Newcastle
Mount Sugarloaf Newcastle
Steps to the Lookout
This final walking track is steep but has a rest spot about half way with a chair. From the summit the views over the Hunter Valley and back towards Newcastle are fantastic.
While at the top you also get a close up look at the transmission towers. Worth the trip to the top for the great views.
To see what else there is to do in the Hunter Valley, please see some of our other stories.
There are some great beaches south of Newcastle as well as some interesting sights to view along the way. The beaches are nearly all fantastic and most of them are good for surfing as well as a swim or relaxing on the sand.
Lifeguards do not patrol all of these beaches, so if you plan a swim, you should go to a patrolled beach and swim between the flags. This way, if you or someone with you gets into difficulty in the water, a lifeguard is nearby.
Snapper Point is part of the New South Wales National Parks Monmouth State Conservation Area. As such you need to abide by any sign they have placed. There is a small car park when you arrive and a small fee for using the park. This was the only place we visited on the day with a parking fee.
As the name implies, it is a popular fishing spot. It is popular with rock fishers, who cast out into the ocean for the fish. From the number of memorials there, it has also proven fatal to some fishermen who have been swept from the rocks and drowned. There are now safety rings in place should anyone fall in.
We stayed clear of the lower wave washed rocks and admired the views from the top. There is a series of sea caves cut into the cliffs nearby and they are clearly visible from the lookout. The ocean views are great, but it was the sea caves that we came to see and watching the ocean waves rolling into them was amazing.
Snapper Point Sea Cave
Snapper Point
Frazer Beach
Frazer Beach is in
the Lake Munmorah State Conservation Area so is very close to Snapper Point and
adjacent to Bongon Beach. It has a camping ground right next to the beach or
you can pay for a day pass at the machines in the car park.
The beach is amazing
being wide and sandy with rock platforms on either side. Surfing is popular
here and a few groups were out in the surf when we arrived. This isn’t a
patrolled beach so swimming is not advised.
To the north of the
beach is Bongon Beach and Snapper Point while to the south is a large rock
platform, which we walked over. It has some interesting rock pools and
geological features although we found the rock pools at Bongon Beach to be
better. There were also a few rock fishermen here trying their luck.
Frazer Beach
Geological Formation South of Frazer Beach
Bongon Beach
Bongon Beach, located between Snapper Point and Frazer Beach is a very small sandy beach but has some very nice rock pools in the adjacent rock platform.
We walked to Bongon from Frazer Beach by climbing over the rock ledge dividing the two beaches. The platform near Snapper Point was very interesting as we arrived at low tide and all of the rock pools were exposed. Some were very nice with great colours and it was nice to watch the tide forcing the water into them. During the summer months these rock pools would definitely be the place to sit and relax.
Bongon Beach
Rock Pool Near Bongon Beach
Rock Pool Near Bongon Beach
Waves Filling a Rock Pool Near Bongon Beach
Catherine Hill Bay
Catherine Hill Bay is one of the best surfing spots on the coast. It has a great beach, surf house; and the town’s pub is legendary. Unfortunately for us there was a lot of road work being done in the town and the pub was full. So instead, we walked on the beach for a while and then checked out the old heritage listed coal loading pier.
Catherine Hill Bay Surf Club
Catherine Hill Bay Beach
The Beach at Catherine Hill Bay
Catherine Hill Bay Coal Loading Pier
It is a very pleasant spot and very relaxing. As we walked along the beach we were able to see people surfing and some old wooden piers sticking out of the sand, slowly being weathered away.
Coal Loading Pier at Catherine Hill Bay
Old Wooden Piers at Catherine Hill Bay
Caves Beach
Another of the great beaches south of Newcastle is Cave’s Beach named not surprisingly after the sea caves in the area. If you want to explore the cave, make sure you go at low tide. You can check this on the internet. At high tide, the cave is flooded, and access is cut off. During the week we have found it to be quiet, but on a sunny weekend, it will be crowded, with people swimming and exploring the cave.
Cave’s Beach Sea Cave at High Tide
Main Cave at Cave’s Beach
Main Cave at Cave’s Beach Looking Out
Looking out of the Main Cave
Rock Platform at Cave’s Beach
Rocks and Algae at Caves Beach
Entering the cave is not dangerous. There are no warning signs and access is free. You can walk through the cave and out the other side to a rock platform. The cliff here also has some smaller caves to look at. The platform itself is quite interesting, with rock pools with algae growing in them. Be careful of your footing as the rocks can be slippery.
There is a kiosk next to the beach selling snacks and cold drinks during the week. On the weekends, there is a bar that also opens.
A larger post on Caves Beach and surrounding walking tracks can be found here.
Swansea Heads and Reid’s Mistake
Swansea Headland looks over the entrance to the Swansea Channel and down onto Reid’s Mistake Head. There is a great view from here and if you drive to the end of the track, you will find the Maritime Rescue Station with more great views.
Below the headland, you can access the base of the cliff and the rock platform from a car park near Reid’s Reserve. If you look carefully at low tide, you will find the remains of a petrified forest that was destroyed by a volcanic eruption and buried in volcanic ash. The cliff is made of tuff, a stone made from the ash of the volcanic eruption.
Volcanic Tuff in the Cliff at at Reid’s Mistake
Reid’s Mistake Fossil Tree
Fossilised Tree Trunk
Fossilised Tree Trunk
Rock Patterns
Reid’s Mistake Rock Platform
Redhead Beach
Our last stop heading north was Redhead Beach. This is a very popular Newcastle beach and has a big car park and facilities. The most striking feature, apart from the excellent beach is the old shark spotting tower perched on rocks in front of the club house.
Redhead Beach Shark Tower
So, if you want to visit some beaches south of Newcastle and do more than just swim or sunbathe, give some of these places a try.
As you drive along the highway, see if the can spot the Big Prawn on top of the sign for a closed shopping centre. Australia loves its “Big” things.
The Big Prawn
If you want to read about Newcastle Beaches, click here
