Father's Day in Newcastle and the Hunter: a wrap

Father's Day has come and gone, but it's worth a look back at how Newcastle and the Hunter filled the day on Sunday 6 September. The region leaned hard into the 'something for everyone' approach, with a mix of free family days, long lunches and a fair bit of competition.

On the free end of things, the Hunter Valley Wildlife Park in Nulkaba gave dads free entry when they came with a paying guest, plus a free BBQ breakfast between 9am and 11am. Closer to home, The Lucky Hotel in Newcastle set up mini golf at the bar with cold beers and a family menu, a free beer for dad and a go at a Father's Day hamper draw. Over in Warners Bay, Dullboy's Social Co handed out a free round of bowling or mini golf to dads with a paying customer from midday, with a A$15 pizza and mini golf combo on the go.

For a slower pace, the water carried a lot of the weight. A 2.5-hour Father's Day lunch cruise left the Queens Wharf Terminal at 12:30 with a buffet and harbour views, while Nova Cruises ran a Lake Macquarie lunch cruise from Booragul with shrimp, roast chicken and a welcome drink for dad. On land, Tocal Homestead in Paterson put on a 'Fit for a King' slow-cooked lunch between 11am and 3pm, with Southern-style brisket, pulled pork and spiced chicken and live music at one of the country's finest collections of colonial farm buildings.

Families with younger kids had plenty of options. Charlestown Golf Club & Driving Range in Hillsborough ran a buffet breakfast from 9am to 11am at A$45 for adults and A$20 for children under 12, with a bucket of balls on the range thrown in. At the cinema, Event Cinemas at Glendale and Kotara held an advance screening of Shaun the Sheep: The Beast of Mossy Bottom at 10am, while Tower Cinemas in Newcastle doubled up with a 45th anniversary screening of Raiders of the Lost Ark at midday and a Top Gun double feature in the afternoon.

And if you wanted to keep it simple, the region's usual stand-ins did the job. Thirsty Messiah in Broadmeadow opened from midday, The Lot Smokehouse in Islington served a Texas-style feast with free food for kids under six, and the Kurri Kurri Hotel filled its afternoon with a petting farm, a magician and ribs and brisket for dads. Out in the Hunter, Château Élan at The Vintage and Entwine at Calais Estate kept the day going with breakfast, lunch and live music.

It was a busy one across the board, from the harbour to the hinterland, and it's a good reminder of how much the region puts on for a day like it. If you missed out this time, the good news is that a lot of these places — the breweries, the smokehouses and the cruises — are around all year round, so there's no need to wait for next September to get out for a long lunch.