We're beginning our paddle back to our starting point at Carrington when the Azalea Wave coal ship passes us by, heading into port.
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Led by Out and About Adventures guide Peter Vaughan, we group our four kayaks close together, keeping a safe distance away, behind a large red navigation buoy.
As the monolithic vessel looms across our exclusive harbour views, it looks like a giant metal dinosaur that, from close by, seems to move both eerily slowly, temporarily blocking out the afternoon sun, and to pass us by in an instant.
"Coal ships that size can take two kilometres to stop", Vaughan tells us, as we watch three tugboats guide the ship carefully through the harbour.
It is now three hours since six of us gathered at Carrington boat ramp to begin our "paddle and pizza" adventure, with a stubborn autumn morning fog lingering low over Newcastle harbour.
Our group includes Mayfield couple Kate and Kahlin, Maitland-based Gurjeet Rai and her brother Gursharan Sammi, visiting from the UK, and Ruth Fessey, from Jesmond. Fessey has kindly agreed to pair up with me and steer our two-person kayak, using foot pedals to control direction, so I can take photographs.
"I suspect you will look at Newcastle differently after today," says Vaughan, as we put out into Throsby Creek, after our safety briefing.
Within minutes the early June fog has dissolved to reveal sparkling blue skies and panoramic views across Newcastle harbour. Coasting seaward on an outgoing tide, the paddling is easy, too, and we ease past large loading berths, and the former Greenpeace anti-whaling ship, MV Steve Irwin, docked on the northern side of the Hunter River.
"Most people know that our largest exports from here are coal and grain," Vaughan says, "but what's less known is that the largest imports into Newcastle include fruit juice concentrate and huge wind turbine blades, destined for the NSW central west."
Next, we pass beneath the evocative Destiny sculpture at Dyke Point, her long mane of hair billowing behind her and her arms thrown wide to echo the "Welcome to Newcastle" sign at the port entrance.
We tend to take this harbour at the heart of our city for granted, the waiting container ships on the horizon, out at sea, but a distant reminder that where we live encompasses the world's largest coal port. It contributes about $71 billion to Australia's economy annually and handles nearly 5000 ship movements and 166 million tonnes of cargo every year.
Even on this sedate Saturday, there are ships going out or in at 11am, 12 and 1pm, says Vaughan, "so I've called the Port corporation to let them know that we are on the water, and we have got to be out of their channels."
Given that the harbour is around 800 metres wide at its broadest and the breeze is light, it is straightforward enough to avoid the ships and the cross-river ferry, which has just beetled past us, and is now docking at Stockton wharf. We also spot a large dredger, which is almost constantly at work clearing silt and debris, ensuring that the harbour remains deep enough for fully loaded coal ships, which need at least 15 metres clearance.
Across the water we also get standout views of what Vaughan describes as "the very horizontal architecture of the city centre waterfront" and behind that, of ChristChurch Cathedral, of Fort Scratchley, high on the hill above Nobbys Beach, and even distant glimpses of the ANZAC Memorial Walk, above Bar Beach.
What is most surprising on this local adventure is that, despite all the traffic coming into and out of the port, the harbour seems relatively green and clean. I've previously been astonished to see seals basking on the breakwater at the Hunter River mouth, and today, as we paddle toward our lunch spot, on dog-friendly Horseshoe Beach, a couple of dolphins surface and gambol, ahead of us.
A pizza lunch delivered to the beach is a welcome quirk and break to this four-hour tour, and is quickly devoured, along with a cold sparkling apple juice from a kayak-borne esky, before the panoply of local hounds can sniff it out.
After lunch we wend gradually back west along the city harbourfront, passing beneath Queens Wharf and the harbourside pub.
Slipping between the oyster-encrusted wooden piers supporting these busy wharves, with the only noise the glug of the water lapping against them, brings yet another experience of Newcastle that we could only get from a kayak on the harbour.
It is 23 degrees now in the afternoon sun and water has smoothed out as we approach the marina, near Wickham boatshed. Gliding here among the reflections of enviable pleasure craft, none of the group want the adventure to come to an end. Yet, we are nearly back at where we started, at Carrington, on the other side of the Cowper Street Bridge, in that unpromising low fog, a few hours ago.
Pulling up our kayaks on the opposite bank, we all agree that this short paddling tour has been a revelation, affording us insight into Newcastle's thriving deep-water port and a better understanding of the wide waterway colonists named the Hunter River, and our local indigenous peoples have long known as Coquun.
From getting up close to enormous coal ships and working wharves, to paddling with dolphins, our gentle, waterborne exploration of Newcastle has given both we locals, and one overseas visitor, a rare and different perspective on the city.
Daniel Scott was a guest of Out and About Adventures.
Wangi-based Out and About Adventures offer kayaking and bushwalking tours all around our region and beyond, most guided by former schoolteacher Peter Vaughan. The company runs "Paddle and Pizza" lunch tours on Newcastle harbour ($95 per person). The next departure is on Sunday, July 16, 10am-2pm and the company are offering $10 off for Herald readers mentioning this story. outandaboutadventures.com.au or 0404 878332 for details.
