View across Lake Macquarie

Belmont
Tourist resort on the shore of Lake Macquarie
Belmont is a suburban tourist resort on the eastern side of Lake Macquarie. The flotilla of bobbing boats and white, flapping sails which crowd the bay are a symbol of the town's central activity although fishing and swimming are also popular.

In 1800 Captain William Reid became the first European to make his way into the lake. Sent from Sydney to collect coal from the mouth of the Hunter River he mistook the channel for the river estuary, ventured inside and encountered some members of the Awabakal tribe, who then occupied the area from the bank of the Lower Hunter to the southern and western shores of Lake Macquarie. After he inquired about coal the Aborigines directed him to some embedded in the headland. It was only upon his return to Sydney that he realised his error. The lake was thus known as Reid's Mistake until 1826 when it was renamed in honour of Governor Lachlan Macquarie.

Reid's discovery excited no initial interest as Newcastle was, at the time, a penal settlement which the government wished to keep isolated from Sydney. Eventually pressure from settlers wishing to move into the Hunter Valley caused the penal settlement to be removed to Port Macquarie.

By far the most important of the early settlers was a missionary, the Reverend Lancelot Threlkeld, an ex-actor and businessman who, in 1826, established a 1000-acre reserve for an Aboriginal mission which occupied the whole northern peninsula, from Pelican north-west to Redhead and north-east to Croudace Bay.

Threlkeld chose the land after noting it was a gathering point for Aborigines, drawn by the living conditions and food around the lake. He held his Aboriginal friends in high regard and learned their language so as to communicate and to translate scripture (this work being an early landmark in Aboriginal studies). The mission house, called 'Bahtahbah', was located on a rise overlooking Belmont Bay. It was connected to Newcastle by a rough dray track. Threlkeld started the first coal mine around the lake at Coal Point, c.1840, and subsequently bought ten acres at Swansea Heads for coal-loading and storage around 1842.

Thomas Williamson, of the Shetland Isles, bought 100 acres of land around present-day Belmont in 1863. He built two cottages, established a farm and grew grapes and bananas. Fellow Shetlander John Anderson bought 40 acres of adjacent land and began farming and dairying. There was soon a small contingent of fishermen in the district and a steam-driven sawmill was built at Cardiff Point, at the north-western tip of the bay.

The town's name derives from a weatherboard guesthouse named 'Belmont' which Williamson built in the 1860s. It was named after his birthplace on the island of Unst. The first town allotments went on sale in 1868, taken up by miners who worked at nearby collieries. A private school opened on the Williamson property in 1873 and a provisional school in 1875. A church building followed and a post office opened in 1877. Williamson was the postmaster until his death in 1880.

The improvement of the roads in 1883 and the arrival of the railway later in the decade prompted more substantial development, the growth of the permanent population and the expansion of the tourist trade. Popular with industrial workers from Newcastle seeking a contrast to their working hours it became known as the 'sanitarium of the north'.

As Newcastle has continued to sprawl, the desirability of lakeside residences has become obvious and the population of Belmont has greatly increased since 1970.

Things to see:  

View from Marks Point across Lake Macquarie

Parkland
Cane Pt, Belmont South, is a small peninsula that juts out from the mainland at the end of Ethel St which runs to the west off the highway. It is a very pleasant little spot, surrounded by the waters of Lake Macquarie on three sides, with a caravan park, a boat ramp, and fine views.

Also at Belmont South, on the left-hand side of the highway as you are headed north, there is a strip of foreshore parkland at sea-level with a playground, picnic and barbecue facilities, a few trees and views over the lake: northwards to the flotilla of boats at the sailing and yachting clubs and north-east to Cardiff Pt on the other side of Belmont Bay.

Yacht Club
To access the Lake Macquarie Yacht Club (tel: 02 4945 0022), continue north along the highway past the caravan park then turn left into Ada St. There is a boat ramp by the walkway.

Sailing Club
The Belmont 16 ft Sailing Club (tel: 02 4945 0888) can be reached by turning off the highway into Macquarie St. At the end of the road turn right into Brooks Parade and continue past the rock pool and boat ramp. Gerald St, with its caravan park, is to the right and Ross St is to the left. Follow the latter and then turn left into The Parade and it is here that you will find the sailing club.

Belmont Golf Course
The club house is located at the end of a private driveway which runs to the east off the highway at the southernmost end of Belmont.

Boat Hire
Squids Ink Boat Hire is located at 690 Pacific Highway (02 4947 7223).

The Macquarie Enterprise Cruise
The Macquarie Enterprise Cruise operates a four-hour luncheon cruise every Wednesday, Thursday and Sunday which is intended to pick people up from Belmont Wharf, although the deterioration of the wharf has made this service problematic. However, ring (02) 4973 2513 for further information.

	Tourist Information
	Lake Macquarie Visitor Centre 72 Pacific Hwy Swansea Belmont NSW 2281 Telephone: (02) 4972 1172
	Motels
	Lakeview Motor Inn 749 Pacific Hwy Belmont NSW 2280 Telephone: (02) 4945 2847 Facsimile: (02) 4945 2039 Rating: ***1/2
	Squids Ink Motel 690 Pacific Hwy Belmont NSW 2280 Telephone: (02) 4947 7223 Facsimile: (02) 4947 7276 Rating: ***1/2
	Aquarius Motor Inn 813 Pacific Hwy Belmont NSW 2280 Telephone: (02) 4945 9899 Facsimile: (02) 4945 9612 Rating: **
	Lake Macquarie Motor Inn 798 Pacific Hwy Belmont NSW 2280 Telephone: (02) 4945 8622, 1800 630 182 Facsimile: (02) 4847 7149 Rating: ***1/2
	Winston Court 378 Pacific Hwy Belmont NSW 2280 Telephone: (02) 4945 2821 Facsimile: (02) 4945 7646 Rating: ***
	Hotels
	Gunyah Hotel/Motel 644 Pacific St Belmont NSW 2280 Telephone: (02) 4945 4603 Rating: *
	Hotel Metro 483 Pacific Hwy Belmont NSW 2280 Telephone: (02) 4945 0444 Facsimile: (02) 4947 0668
	Jewells Tavern Jewellstown Shopping Centre Belmont NSW 2280 Telephone: (02) 4948 7316
	Squid's Ink Hotel, Restaurant & Cafe 690 Pacific Hwy Belmont NSW 2280 Telephone: (02) 4947 7223 Facsimile: (02) 4947 7276 Rating: ****
	Bed & Breakfast/Guesthouses
	Lakeview Bed & Breakfast 674 Pacific Hwy Belmont NSW 2280 Telephone: (02) 4945 8128 Rating: ***1/2
	Cottages & Cabins
	Lakeshores Self Catering Accommodation 63 Tudor St Belmont NSW 2280 Telephone: (02) 4945 4224 Facsimile: (02) 4945 4224 Rating: ***1/2
	Caravan Parks
	Belmont Bayview Caravan Park Gerald St Belmont NSW 2280 Telephone: (02) 4945 3653 Facsimile: (02) 4947 0177 Rating: **1/2
	Belmont North Caravan Park 348 Pacific Hwy Belmont NSW 2280 Telephone: (02) 4945 2044 Rating: **
	Belmont Pines Tourist Park-Council Ethel St Belmont NSW 2280 Telephone: (02) 4945 4750 Rating: ***1/2
	Spinnaker Leisure Park Cnr Pacific Hwy & Alick St Belmont NSW 2280 Telephone: (02) 4945 3405 Facsimile: (02) 4945 3406 Rating: ****
	Restaurants
	Bearded Bushman Restaurant Pacific Hwy Belmont NSW 2280 Telephone: (02) 4945 3560
	Belmont 16ft Sailing The Parade Belmont NSW 2280 Telephone: (02) 4945 0888
	Belmont Ocean City Chinese Restaurant 616 Pacific Hwy Belmont NSW 2280 Telephone: (02) 4947 7583
	Blue Tones Cafe Restaurant 576 Pacific Hwy Belmont NSW 2280 Telephone: (02) 4945 3455
	Elizah's Lakeside Restaurant 89 Soldiers Rd Pelican Belmont NSW 2280 Telephone: (02) 4971 5500
	Gunyah Hotel Restaurant 644 Pacific St Belmont NSW 2280 Telephone: (02) 4945 4603
	Jessie's on the Water Valentine Cres. Belmont NSW 2280 Telephone: (02) 4965 9355
	Jewells Tavern Jewellstown Shopping Centre Belmont NSW 2280 Telephone: (02) 4965 7316
	Lake Macquarie Motor Inn Restaurant 798 Pacific Hwy Belmont NSW 2280 Telephone: (02) 4945 8622
	Saltwater Grill Ada St Belmont NSW 2280 Telephone: (02) 4945 5522
	Squid's Ink Motel Restaurant & Cafe 690 Pacific Hwy Belmont NSW 2280 Telephone: (02) 4947 7223 Facsimile: (02) 4947 7276
	Swan Lake Chinese Restaurant 529 Pacific Hwy Belmont NSW 2280 Telephone: (02) 4945 9087
	The Gourmet Cactus 576 Pacific Hwy Belmont NSW 2280 Telephone: (02) 4945 3455
	Valentine Chinese Restaraunt 14 Allambie Pl Valentine Belmont NSW 2280 Telephone: (02) 4946 7033
	Cafés
	Anatolia Pidda & Kebabs Belmont City Shopping centre Belmont NSW 2280 Telephone: (02) 4945 5000
	Barbarinos Cafe Deli Macquarie St Belmont NSW 2280 Telephone: (02) 4945 5678
	Cafe Belmont Pacific Hwy Belmont NSW 2280 Telephone: (02) 4945 8344
	Post Point Cafe 80 Marks Point Rd Marks Point Belmont NSW 2280 Telephone: (02) 4945 0553
	Sunflower Cafe Belmont city Centre Belmont NSW 2280 Telephone: (02) 4947 9510
	Sweet Sherry's Cafe Jewells Town Shopping Centre Belmont NSW 2280 Telephone: (02) 4948 5259