A heritage walk established in Warners Bay offers a chance to reflect on the area's past, both before and after European settlement.
The 2.2-kilometre trail, which runs from Jones Avenue to The Esplanade just past Fairfax Road, features eight stops where walkers can use their phone to access historical information.
A QR code displayed on footpath stickers and signs directs users to an online portal providing insights into what the area was once like.
The joint initiative of Lake Macquarie City Council and Warners Bay Area Sustainable Neighbourhood Group covers the area's first recorded European visitor - Reverend Lancelot Threlkeld - and its 1830 settlement by Lt Jonathon Warner, after whom the suburb is named.
People using the trail can also see visualisations of what Lake Macquarie looked like 250 years ago, prior to European settlement.
"The landscape has changed significantly since European settlement, but this heritage walk provides a glimpse of what it was once like," the council's lifelong learning and engagement coordinator Jess Dowdell said.
"Parts of what is now suburban Warners Bay were once a thriving fruit orchard.
"Further back around Lakelands and the industrial estate, coal was mined extensively until the early 1930s."
Neighbourhood Group chairperson Gabrielle Clappison said Warners Bay was one of the first places in Lake Macquarie where Europeans came into contact with the Awabakal people.
"Our group recognised several years ago the need to better make known the Warners Bay area's local heritage," she said.
