100 Things You (probably) Didn't Know About The Hunter

Newcastle Herald

Monday June 16, 2008

GR

DO you have any fascinating tidbits of information

about the Hunter you think may be of

interest to others?

Feel free to email them in (magazines@

theherald.com.au) for consideration for publication

in this column as The Herald counts down

towards the publication of The Hunter: A Survey

of Our Lifestyle and Industry, 2007-08, a 48-

page magazine free in your Herald on Thursday,

June 26.

Each day until then, The Herald will print 10

facts a day building to 100 things you (probably)

didn't know about your region, many of them

gleaned from the magazine that looks at aspects

of Hunter life across employment, sport, entertainment

and much, much more.

For our second set of 10, did you know:

11 Estimates put Williamtown Air Force

Base's contribution

to the Hunter

economy at

$1.085 billion in

2006-07.

12 As of the 2006-07 fi nancial

year, almost 35,000 people were working

in the state public service in the Hunter.

13 Twenty-three units operate out of

Williamtown Air Force Base and it

handles about 1000 aircraft movements a

week, making it one of the busiest bases

in the RAAF.

14 Horse studs are big business in the

Upper Hunter ? one stud has 20 fulltime

gardeners and a Scone veterinary

practice has up to 100 people, including

30 vets, working in the breeding season.

15 The Scone Cup is considered the richest

day of country racing in NSW each year.

16 The purchase of the F-35 Lightning Joint

Strike Fighter aircraft, due to start arriving

at Williamtown around 2014, is expected

to be the most

expensive defence

purchase ever made

by Australia, costing

up to $16 billion for

100 aircraft.

17 The Victoria Hotel at Hinton is probably

the oldest pub in the Hunter (1840).

18 In the Liverpool Ranges, Wallabadah

Rock is a monolith second only in size to

Uluru as a single rock.

19 The North Rothbury Persoonia is one

of the most threatened plants in NSW,

growing nowhere else in the world except

a 4 km strip of land at North Rothbury.

20 We are keen home-owners in the Hunter,

with a higher rate of fully owned homes

(36.4 per cent) than the rest of Australia

(32.6).

HUNTER QUOTE

"We were about two leagues distant from

the land, which extended from N.41 E. to

S.41 W. and a small round rock, or island,

which lay close under the land, bore S. 82

W. distant between three and four leagues"

? Captain Cook, May 10, 1770, as he passed

the outcrop now known as Nobbys.

Learn many more things you

may not have known about your

region when The Hunter magazine

is published free with your

Herald on June 26. Packed with

information, the magazine is a

must for every Hunter resident

and students in the area will

find it invaluable.

YOU'LL LEARN MORE ABOUT YOURSELF THAN YOU EVER KNEW BEFORE

© 2008 Newcastle Herald

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