New book released telling Boat Harbour’s hidden stories Port Stephens Port Stephens by News Of The Area - Modern Media - April 14, 2022 Two of the writers of the Boat Harbour Book, Anne Baikie and Mavis Richardson, with a draft of the Boat Harbour Book. THE people that have made Boat Harbour what it is today are being celebrated in a book which has been written by members of the local community. The book will be launched on 23 April at 3pm at the Boat Harbour Tennis courts. Advertise with News of The Area today. It’s worth it for your business. Message us. Phone us – (02) 4981 8882. Email us – media@newsofthearea.com.au Boat Harbour is a small beachside suburb of Port Stephens, nestled beside the bay for which it is named and Tomaree National Park. The village of Boat Harbour started with Chinese fishermen’s shanties on the beach in the 1800s and has evolved to the million-dollar mansions of today – there is no doubt that Boat Harbour has seen dramatic change. Yet much of the essential magic remains in the quiet village. Many of the earliest residents and their descendants still live in the suburb and have vivid memories and stories to tell. The book began as a modest project to capture some of these memories and record them for history. As the stories grew, so did the project. It includes tales of boggy access roads, shacks built of timber poles and sugar bags, water tanks and backyard toilets, accidents, tragedies, shipwrecks, wartime army exercises and the famous mullet run. What has emerged is a short history of the events and changes of this small community as seen through the eyes of those who came as holiday makers or to call this place home. Fran Davidson, one of the collaborating authors, told News Of The Area, “Eight people collaborated on the book.” Most of the writers are not long term residents of Boat Harbour but they spent time interviewing long standing members of the community aged in their 80’s and 100’s. “These people were hard workers.” The book details one woman’s story who was a widow, raising eight children, running a shop out of her house tending a vegetable patch and harvesting shell grit off the beach. The book will be available for sale for $25 at the launch or by contacting Marion Harrison on boatharbourbook@outlook.com. By Marian SAMPSON Blue Waters, home of Ray Norman. Mullet fishing at Boat Harbour.
