The opening of Newcastle’s first five-star hotel is evidence that people are taking a fresh look at my home town. It caps off an extraordinary decade and a half for a city (bigger than either Canberra or Hobart) that is transforming into one of the country’s most liveable small capitals.

The Crystalbrook Kingsley, which bills itself as an old soul with a fresh twist, is both a symbol of the town’s changing fortunes and its new centre. It stands just where the city narrows, hemmed in on three sides by the Hunter River, Pacific Ocean, and a steep ridge called The Hill. A line of rugged cliffs sweeps away to the south, while to the north the 65km-long Stockton Beach stretches all the way to Nelson Bay.