Boating and Jet Skiing on Lake Macquarie - By: Lance Peters

Lake Macquarie is a lake on the Central Coast part of New South Wales, to the North along the coast from Sidney, Australia.

After the discovery of a good harbour and coal in 1797 at Newcastle, this coal was regularly transported by means of small steamships called ‘sixty-milers’, because of the length of the voyage between Sydney and the coal harbour.

In 1800 a steamship was en route to Newcastle Harbour. It was to pick up a load of coal destined for Sydney, but lost its way. Instead of going up the river to the Newcastle dock, it made a navigational error and found itself in a huge lake instead.

The Aboriginal name for the lake was ‘Awaba’, but for 25 years it was popularly known as ‘Reid’s Mistake’, ‘Reid’ being the name of the captain of the ship that got lost. Then it was renamed ‘Lake Macquarie’ after the Governor of Australia at that time.

It is an irregularly shaped salt water lake just under 22km long at its maximum length, and slightly less than 8km at its widest part. It has a surface area of about 110 square kilometres. It is so large that its fullest extent can only be seen from parts of the Watagan Mountains.

A narrow strip of land, a maximum of a few kilometres wide separates the lake from the sea, except at ‘Swansea Channel’ and ‘Lakes Entrance’ where the sea has an inlet. The bridges over the inlet are able to lift to allow quite large sea craft into the lake or out to sea.

The 68 hectare ‘Pulbah Island’ is a nature reserve on the Southern part of the lake.

Today, the Greater Newcastle Metropolitan Area includes the local government areas of Newcastle, Lake Macquarie City, Cessnock, Maitland and Port Stephens. It has the second highest population in New South Wales.

In Lake Macquarie there are 10 yacht clubs as well as facilities for numerous other water sports. Among these sports are motor boating, kayaking, water skiing, swimming and of course, fishing.

Hiring or buying a kayak and exploring along the reeds, weeds and waterways has to be one of the best de-stressing activities that you can experience. You get plenty of exercise, but at the same time you can see and appreciate nature along the water at its quietest and most serene.

Other sports on water have just the opposite effect and create a buzz of excitement. One of the most popular of these in recent times is jet skiing.

Since the invention of the primitive, rope controlled ‘skiboard’ in the 1920’s, personal water ski craft have be getting better and better. They started off as boards on which you stood, like a surfboard, only with power.

Later, a seat was included, and then came the handlebars and hand controls. All along, changes were made to the shape and materials of the hull until today’s sophisticated craft were developed.

Although the word ‘JetSki’ is actually a brand name for the craft made by Kawasaki, most people tend to call any personal, powered watercraft a ‘jet ski’.

Starting off as just a ‘fun thing’ to try, jet skiing has developed into a multifaceted sport, with racing and fishing as just two of the popular activities.

There are even multiple passenger models coming into being, called ‘jet boats’, enabling a new type of exploration tourist adventure, as well as bringing the thrills of jet skiing within the reach of the older, younger or disabled fun lovers, who might not normally be able to enjoy the experience on their own.

Everyone who partakes in jet skiing agrees that their biggest attraction to this sport is the adrenalin rush. It has to be one of the most exciting, exhilarating and fastest sports on water.

About the Author

Boat Hire Lake Macquarie offers an exciting way to experience the sights of Lake Macquarie on their Jet Boat Thrill Ride, Sports Boat or fishing boat Hire and Boat Charter.

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