Artillery gunner and ‘Nasho’ Merv Mills spoke about the Battle of Long Tan, and his own Vietnam War experiences. Photo: Thomas O’Keefe. The skies miraculously cleared after days of rain for the intimate ceremony at Tea Gardens. Photo: Thomas O’Keefe. Merv Mills with the M2A2 Howitzer at Tea Gardens’ Anzac Park, the same model he […]

THE next time you see the sunrise, take a moment. That big ball of nuclear fire lighting up your morning sky is not just sitting there politely waiting for you to make coffee. It’s racing around the Milky Way at an eye-watering 828,000 km/h, dragging Earth and the rest of the solar system along for […]

Tea Gardens Hawks Nest Surf Life Saving Club members enjoyed the gala dinner at the Hyatt Regency overlooking Sydney’s Darling Harbour. Photo: Wayne Bower. Minister for Emergency Services Jihad Dib, TGHNSLSC club captain Wayne Bower, Port Stephens MP Kate Washington, Jack Alterator BM, Hunter Branch President Henry Scruton, Gingerlily Shelton BM, TGHNSLSC Vice President Jackie […]

RESIDENTS can have their say on the Draft Bulahdelah Floodplain Risk Management Study and Plan until Sunday 28 September. According to Council, the plan provides an improved understanding of flood behaviour and impacts to better manage flood risk on the Bulahdelah floodplain. Community engagement in 2019 and 2023 informed the review of the plan. The […]

Bulahdelah gathers to commemorate. Local residents commemorating those who have served. Lest we forget. BULAHDELAH commemorated Vietnam Veterans Day on 18 August with a moving service honouring those who served. The annual day commemorates the anniversary of the Battle of Long Tan in 1966. It is also an opportunity to thank the almost 60,000 Australians […]

THIS is part two of a recollection of growing up on Marsh Road in the 1950s, as told by Patricia Hawkins (nee Maslin). DAD was a market gardener sharing with his brothers Cyril, Keith, Alan and my grandfather Herb. He had four children to feed so, to supplement the income, he took a job on […]

PROJECT proponents Equinor and Oceanex Energy have made the decision not to proceed with the Novocastrian Offshore Wind Farm. The project partners had, in February 2024, been offered a licence to explore the feasibility of a two gigawatt offshore wind farm off the coast of the Hunter, however this has now been turned down. Minister […]

NSW POLICE have targeted motorists affected by alcohol, drugs and fatigue during a three-day operation. Operation RAID (Remove All Impaired Drivers) ran from 21-23 August across all NSW roads. During this period, police conducted more than 87,000 breath tests and 9166 drug tests. There were 186 drink driving offences detected and 660 positive drug samples. […]

THE State and Federal Governments have announced a $50 million Housing Support Package to assist eligible homeowners, renters and primary producers impacted by recent severe flooding. Caravans and self-contained pod homes will be deployed for eligible flood-hit residents and primary producers whose homes were uninsured and uninhabitable so they can stay on their property during […]

Illustrator Estelle Leishman, Uncle Justin Ridgeway, and Author Rachel Barry. Photos: supplied by Rachel Barry. Illustrations from the book, ‘Waiting for the platypus’. Illustrations from the book, ‘Waiting for the platypus’. Illustrations from the book, ‘Waiting for the platypus’. The book is titled ‘Where Ripples Rise’. STROUD local Rachel Barry has been announced as a […]