That word, “acquisition”, was also on the mind of Lieutenant John Shortland in 1797, after he sailed into what would be known as the Hunter River and saw lumps of coal on the banks. He forecast that this area would be “a great acquisition to the settlement”.   

Two hundred and twenty nine years on from Phillip’s arrival, as Novocastrians celebrated Australia Day on the land that excited Lieutenant Shortland, the focus was not on what had been “acquired” but on what the country had given them. When questioned about what Australia meant to them and their lives, people replied with one word more than any other. Opportunity. 

Manjit Singh was one of 174 people from 32 countries who became new citizens at a ceremony in Newcastle City Hall. 

He had come to Australia from India about seven years ago to study baking. Last month, he opened his own bakery in Belmont. 

“I love it here,” Mr Singh said. “It’s the land of opportunity. You just have to work to see the desserts.”

And Mr Singh seized the opportunity to record the moment he finally held his citizenship certificate. As he was presented with his certificate by Newcastle Lord Mayor Nuatali Nelmes, Mr Singh pulled out his mobile phone and snapped a selfie.

“I wanted to send the pictures to my parents [in India] straightaway, so they could share this moment,” he said. Asked how Cr Nelmes responded, Mr Singh said, “She was lovely. That’s what I love about Aussies, they always love these kinds of things.” 

Felipe Santanna also used technology to immediately show his new status to a loved one an ocean away. He photographed his citizenship certificate and sent it on his phone to his mother in California. 

Mr Santanna, originally from Brazil, wept as he explained why he wanted to be an Australian citizen.

“To me, it’s the freedom, of not having to struggle every day to put food in your mouth,” he said. 

Rhonda Baker saw the opportunity to bring some levity to the ceremony. No sooner had the new citizens finished reciting the pledge of commitment to Australia than Ms Baker yelled out, “Aussie! Aussie! Aussie!” 

“Oi! Oi! Oi!”, the hall thundered back.

Then the chant became official. The Lord Mayor led another rally of cries. 

“Well, it’s got to be done,” Rhonda Baker, resplendent in a sparkling blue sequinned hat, reasoned later. “You can’t have one of these [ceremonies] without it. And it only takes one!”

But it takes many to create a party. Along the harbour foreshore, crowds wandered past stalls and the play areas, and they watched the Sky Aces aerobatic planes that whined like mosquitoes as they twisted and turned over the water. 

Others made their own entertainment. With just a long roll of plastic, some dishwashing liquid, and a steep slope outside Fort Scratchley, a group of mates set up an Australia Day slip n’ slide celebration. 

When they saw the morning was overcast, they figured this was their opportunity for fun, as the heavens would provide the water. 

“It was raining this morning,” said Luke Ferguson, one of the slip n’ sliders.  

His mate, Nic Dillon-Smith, said the activity had become a tradition for January 26. Over the past few years, they had set up the slide on the Stockton sand hills, at Redhead and in King Edward Park. 

To Mr Dillon-Smith, Australia Day was about not just slip n’ sliding, but “celebrating our freedom; we live in a country where we don’t know how lucky we are to have freedom of choice”.

Luke Ferguson said a number of on-lookers “had a go”, so the slip n’ slide turned into a symbol of what was good about Australia. 

“We all come together for fun, we’re all one, we’re all just mates,” said Mr Ferguson.

On the one day of the year the Australian flag was not just a national symbol but a fashion statement, a group of picnickers in King Edward Park were enthusiastically wearing their patriotic pride. 

Dipesh Lakhani, who was originally from Kenya and had been in Newcastle for 12 years, was in a flag shirt. He was drinking a beer from a cooler wrapped in an Indigenous dot painting design. His take on the best thing about Australia was simple: “More opportunity”. Where it could improve, he thought, was to “get Prime Ministers to last more than six months”. 

His friend, Debbie Degabriele, was shimmering in a sequinned flag dress. 

“Every year, just for this occasion, I don’t have to think about what to wear,” she said. As for where she thought Australia could improve, she replied, “By people not being racist. People should accept people for being people.”

In the spirit of that line from the second verse of “Advance Australia Fair” about “boundless plains to share”, many groups were sharing the turf at King Edward Park. An 18th birthday party was being held in the rotunda, a cricket game was being set up, and a group of friends were preparing a barbecue and playing touch footy, with some wearing that most confronting of Australian uniforms, budgie smugglers. 

Mitch Ford had opted for a more modest ensemble, dressed in a blue tutu and a T-shirt he had found in his partner’s wardrobe. 

“It’s my first year, but it might be the start of a tradition,” Mr Ford said.

“I like it!,” said Catie Blayden, casting an eye over her partner. “He wears it better than I do.” 

For Manjit Singh, there would be no wild celebrations. He intended to acknowledge the rest of Australia Day by going to bed.

After all, he had to sleep before baking bread through the early hours. Not that he minded. For he would be waking up an Australian citizen in a region he loved.  

“There’s a freedom here, whatever you want to do,” Mr Singh said. “There are other cultures to learn from, and everything is beautiful around here.”