Hunter Wetlands Centre Australia

Took 2 children aged 9 and 5. They both loved the wetlands and the playground. Take aeroguard the mosquito's are insane.

Great selection on menu and at reasonable prices. The cafe offers a lovely view of a large pond with a variety of bird life. Very peaceful surroundings. Fabulous staff. Thank you Spoonbill Cafe.

Fantastic place to go for a relaxing walk. Welcoming staff. Well maintained wetlands. Good signage for navigation and identification of animals.

What a great day this was!
Access was good, staff were super friendly and the grounds were so big, I didn't have time to explore it all.

First time visiting and I was really impressed. The facilities are in great condition and make it easy to move around the Wetlands. The variety of birds and ground animals was fantastic. The cafe offered a great menu and enjoyable coffee.

We are regulars here. Wide variety of good quality food and located on high ground overlooking the large pond. Yesterday, there were around 100 magpie geese enjoying this feeding ground.

The signage ‘here’ is non existent and when you come to a cross road, the only way to find out where you are is by using maps. As I was by myself I felt isolated and vulnerable. Bird life excellent, but if you want to disconnect from your phone, this is not the place to do it. When I put Hunter Wetlands into maps, I was directed to enter via Millams Road (according to Google), which is also Schoolhouse Road, over the Ash Road Bridge. That was my ‘here’. This section is nowhere near where the reception area etc are at 1 Wetlands Place, Shortland. Just be careful how you ‘search’ for this place. Overall, the day was a bit stressful. I have tried to email Hunter Wetlands via their website, but the form doesn’t work. I feel they need to explain via their website, the difference in sites, and to put up some signage.

I was actually pleasantly surprised. They have regular reptile shows for the kids, a map hunt that engaged the kids, with a prize at the end, and the Cafe has really nice food with good service

Not what we expected, but still a nice place. Beware of the mossies, the didn't care that we had insect spray. Needed a lot more and tropical strength. Staff were lovely.

Cafe is okay. Staff are helpful. Food is middleof the road but nicely cooked. Wetlands itself is a bit hot at this time of year.

Spoonbill cafe is our chosen meeting place. Fresh air a great view and affordable yummy meals. Great wildlife paintings for to admire or purchase. And pleasant helpful staff thoughout the centre

The chef is so ridiculously rude! If you don’t book you’ll have your head chopped off by him.

The wait staff are lovely - seriously have no idea how they handle that cranky human being & still have a smile on their faces for the customers!

A great place to be! Full of tranquility amongst nature. Play equipments for children, lots to see and do.

Great place for an easy walk, plenty of birds to look at, kids can net bugs from the ponds for an extra fee

This is my 1st time to visit here and go inside to take a look around. It is good place to visit wild birds.if you like it.
And nice restaurant to enjoy your meal here.

Anyone who's in the know knows this is one of the best birding spots in the Newcastle area. Better signage could make navigating the place a bit easier for out-of-towners, and some notification about which ponds have dried up/been drained/are overtaken by reeds could help people decide their route. The service staff were lovely, as always!

Great place to visit, especially if you have kids. The art gallery and Cafe are free to enter, the actual wetlands costs like $5 and you have so much to explore! I found one main playground but there were a few other play areas scattered around the grounds. Didn't see the freckled ducks when I was there though, enclosure looked abandoned. I will be going back, I want to try kayaking!

Great place! Really good coffee at the Cafe too (and scones). We took our 4yr old to the easter day and she had the BEST day

Great space, friendly staff. Toilets were clean and the kids park was suitable for toddlers and pre-teens.

My sister in law was just married here, it was nothing short of spectacular.
The ceremony was down at the chapel with an amazing background looking over the lake. Conveniently there's a bunch of stellar photo spots all around the wetlands. Side note. If you've never been along for a day trip it's well worth your time, many things to see and enjoy for adults and kiddos too.

It was highly convenient having the reception at the Spoonbill Cafe. The vista over the pond was simply excellent. Full credit to Greg and his catering team; the canapés, entrees, mains and dessert were delicious. 2nds anyone? Yes please! You folks were very well organised too, great job team.
Also hats off to the wait staff - quite a helpful and lovely bunch of people!
Fun fact: what other reception venue has a live crocodile!

Worth noting, the mozzies did come out to play, but they were pretty manageable with aeroguard.
Thanks heaps folks - tops job hosting!