Anna Bay is the name of a

suburb A suburb (more broadly suburban area) is an area within a metropolitan area, which may include commercial and mixed-use, that is primarily a residential area. A suburb can exist either as part of a larger city/urban area or as a separate ...

, a town and a bay in the Port Stephens

local government area A local government area (LGA) is an administrative division of a country that a local government is responsible for. The size of an LGA varies by country but it is generally a subdivision of a State (administrative division), state, province, divi ...

in the

Hunter Region The Hunter Region, also commonly known as the Hunter Valley, is a region of New South Wales, Australia, extending from approximately to north of Sydney. It contains the Hunter River and its tributaries with highland areas to the north and so ...

of New South Wales,

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

. The suburb and town are immediately adjacent to the north-eastern end of Stockton Beach and provide one of the major entry points to the beach at Birubi Point. Both were named after the bay of the same name which is located in the adjacent suburb of

One Mile The mile run (1,760 yards or exactly 1,609.344 metres) is a middle-distance foot race. The history of the mile run event began in England, where it was used as a distance for gambling races. It survived track and field's switch to ...

. According to legend to it was originally called Hannah Bay after an alleged shipwreck in 1851 but the vessel has never been identified. The name was changed by post service on 15 May 1896 as many locals were already referring to it as Anna Bay. The Worimi people are the traditional owners of the Port Stephens area. During World War II Stockton Beach was heavily fortified against a possible amphibious assault by

Imperial Japanese forces The Imperial Japanese Armed Forces (IJAF) were the combined military forces of the Japanese Empire. Formed during the Meiji Restoration in 1868,"One can date the 'restoration' of imperial rule from the edict of 3 January 1868." p. 334. they ...

and a line of tank traps was installed to prevent entry to the local area through the town. Many of the tank traps were removed after the war and now feature significantly around the car parking areas at Birubi Point. From here many tourists partake in organised beach tours and camel rides.

Gallery

File:Tank traps at Anna Bay 001.jpg , Tank trap at the northern end of Stockton Beach File:Tank traps at Anna Bay 002.jpg , Part of tank trap at the northern end of Stockton Beach showing the World War II date stamp File:Tank traps at Anna Bay 003.jpg , Tank traps along the roadway between the upper and lower car parks at the northern end of Stockton Beach File:Tank traps at Anna Bay 004.jpg , World War II tank traps surrounding lower car park at the northern end of Stockton Beach

Notes

References

External links

Anna Bay at Australian Explorer
{{Suburbs of Port Stephens Suburbs of Port Stephens Council Towns in the Hunter Region Beaches of New South Wales Coastal towns in New South Wales