Carrington family: school run, kids and puzzles

Alerts

In an emergency call 000.

Fire danger today

🟢 MODERATE Plan and prepare.

No Total Fire Ban today. Gas, electric, wood and charcoal BBQs are fine with care: keep an adult on it, water handy and nothing that burns nearby. Burning off or a fire in the open? Check if you need a permit.

Tomorrow: 🟢 MODERATE

Source: NSW Rural Fire Service, Fire Danger Ratings (Greater Hunter). Updated Mon, 26 Oct, 5:07 am.

Fires within 100 km

• SECTOR 5, SMA Advice
  RANGE RD, WHITTINGHAM 2330 · 57 km away · Under control · 207 ha

Source: NSW Rural Fire Service, Fires Near Me. Updated Mon, 26 Oct, 5:42 am.

Weather warnings

• 26/04:00 EDT Marine Wind Warning Summary for New South Wales

Source: Bureau of Meteorology, NSW warnings. Updated Mon, 26 Oct, 5:42 am.

Roads now

• Changed Traffic Conditions Upgrade: M1 Pacific Motorway, Cooranbong 32 km away · updated 23 Oct, 6:00 am
• Rugby League World Cup: Griffiths Road, Broadmeadow 4 km away · updated 22 Oct, 2:44 pm
• A-league Men: Griffiths Road, Broadmeadow 4 km away · updated 22 Oct, 2:45 pm

Source: Live Traffic NSW (Transport for NSW, open data)

One app instead of 40+

Your page right now: 37 apps and sites you no longer need to check.

No more checking 37 apps and websites every morning: that’s about 37 min back every day, or 4 hr 19 min a week (at about a minute an app). Everything below is on your page or one tap away.

= 1 Daily Maverick, your way

See which feature replaces which app

Scam watch

Buying from a business you don't know? Check the NSW Fair Trading Complaints Register first: it lists businesses with 10 or more complaints in a month.

Scam watch: report a scam, the tips banks agree on, product recalls →

What's on

Specials, members nights, trivia, live music, markets and events around Newcastle, in one place.

Read from each venue's own website twice a day. Specials can change, so check with the venue before you go. Know a venue we're missing? Tell us.

What’s on in Carrington

Nothing listed in 2294 yet. Know something on? Add it free.

+ Add an event (free)

Births, Deaths and Marriages

Just for curiosity

Trending baby names

NSWAustraliaWorldBy decadeYour nameIdeas with Mav

Top 10 across NSW, 2025

Girls

1. CHARLOTTE =
2. AMELIA =
3. OLIVIA =
4. ISLA ▲1
5. MIA ▼1
6. SOPHIA ▲3
7. CHLOE ▼1
8. HAZEL =
9. LILY ▲2
10. SIENNA ▲3

Biggest climber: LAINEY, up 41 to #56

Highest new entry: AMIRA at #79

Boys

1. NOAH =
2. OLIVER =
3. THEODORE =
4. LUCA =
5. LEO ▲1
6. HENRY ▼1
7. ELIJAH ▲3
8. LEVI ▲5
8. HUDSON ▼1
10. JACK ▲4

Biggest climber: ELIAS, up 52 to #35

Highest new entry: MATEO at #65

Source: the latest full-year list from the NSW Registry of Births, Deaths and Marriages. Arrows show the move since 2024. NSW doesn't publish names by town. Checked Sun, 25 Oct, 3:56 pm.

See all Births, Deaths and Marriages →

Handy tools

Gen Alpha interpreter What did your kid just say? Jimmy Joel translates →

Dog friendly

Off-leash beaches, dog parks and places happy to see your dog. If there’s nothing mapped, it says so.

Source: OpenStreetMap (OpenStreetMap contributors), the free map anyone can add to.

LGBTQ+ friendly

Local places that welcome everyone. If there’s nothing mapped, it says so.

Source: OpenStreetMap (OpenStreetMap contributors), the free map anyone can add to.

Fuel prices in Newcastle

Source: NSW FuelCheck

Grocery watch

Today in numbers

Facts from the sources named, side by side. No opinions: make up your own mind.

Big tech watch

Life and death

AI for good, AI for bad

A recent AI story of each kind from the news, so you see both sides.

Headlines from The Guardian and Google News, sorted into good and bad by AI, so check the full story. See every story we've logged.

Learn how AI can help in your everyday life, from your local experts at Maverick Digital →

Grog watch

Beer, wine, spirits, cider: the price at local bottle shops, posted by the shops themselves. Search for anything, or filter by type. Local only, so your money stays in town.

Cheapest In between Dearest

Source: prices posted by local shops, with the date they posted. Shown for 30 days. We don't check the big chains: local only. Please drink responsibly.

Banks and the RBA

Home loan rates at the big four, and how quickly each passed on the Reserve Bank's (RBA) rate changes. Numbers only.

Cash rate: 4.60% since 29 Sept 2026

How fast they passed on RBA changes

Days from the RBA's decision to the date the bank's new variable rate took effect, for the 7 RBA moves since February 2025.

Carrington tide times & fishing

Loading…

Tide times are modelled estimates. Not for navigation; check the Bureau of Meteorology before boating.

Know your 2294

The handy stuff, all in one place. Every item is sourced and shown as the source has it. We don’t edit it. We tell you where it’s from and how well the owner keeps it up to date.

Spotted something out of date? Let us know.

Renting

Looking for a place in Newcastle? Every rental site, already searched for you.

• Rentals in Newcastle on realestate.com.au: Australia's biggest property site.
• Rentals in Newcastle on Domain: The other big one.
• Rentals in Newcastle on Rent.com.au: Rentals only, with a free renter résumé to send agents.
• Rentals in Newcastle on Homely: Rentals plus honest local reviews of each street.

Every rental site, your rights and bond help →

Jobs

Looking for work in Newcastle? Every job site, already searched for you.

• Jobs in Newcastle on SEEK: Australia's biggest job site.
• Jobs in Newcastle on Indeed: Pulls jobs from employers' own websites too.
• Jobs in Newcastle on Jora: Searches lots of job sites at once.
• Jobs in Newcastle on LinkedIn: Professional and office roles.

Every job site, plus council, harvest and local employers →

Newcastle Council watch

Keeping an eye on Newcastle City Council, with every item linked to its source.

Meeting dates are on the council's meetings page.

Is council doing what it said?

Every three months Newcastle City Council reports on its own plan. We'll show its latest report here, in its own words.

Have your say or make a complaint

• Report a problem or make a request: Newcastle City Council on or their website.
• Not happy with how council handled it? NSW Ombudsman.
• Concerns about a councillor's conduct: Office of Local Government.
• Suspect corruption: NSW ICAC (Independent Commission Against Corruption).
• Have your say at a meeting: ask the council about speaking at public forum before the next meeting.

🏅 Mini Maverick Award

Maverick Digital encourages digital safety for kids. Every Kid Zone game is designed to help with that: a safe place where kids can play and mums and dads can feel safe.

Each month, the top three kids on the Kid Zone leaderboards win the Mini Maverick Award, for proving they’re little mini Mavericks:

• 🥇 $25 first place
• 🥈 $15 second place
• 🥉 $10 third place

📍 Spent at a local Newcastle business. No multinationals, no chains, no fast food.

Only a winner’s first name is ever shown, with their parent or carer’s OK.

Play in Kid Zone → · Local businesses: be a place winners spend it

🌳 Get outside this weekend

Things for kids and families to do outdoors, free or under $50 a kid. This weekend: Sat, 31 Oct and Sun, 1 Nov.

No kids' events listed for this weekend yet. Running one? Add it free and tick "Good for kids".

Always-good local favourites

Outdoor and affordable, picked by locals. Check times and prices before you go · Suggest one

National parks and visitor info

Park alerts and closures around Newcastle, straight from NSW National Parks, plus the official places to plan a visit. We source it, we don’t write it.

No current alerts for parks around Newcastle.

Source: NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service, alerts. Updated Mon, 26 Oct, 5:07 am.

Visitors to regional NSW

64.7 million visitors, 102.9 million nights and $27.7 billion spent across regional NSW in the year ending June 2026, including 685,800 international visitors.

Source: Destination NSW, Regional NSW statistics. Updated Sun, 25 Oct, 12:00 am.

Plan a visit

• Newcastle City Council: visitor information
• NSW National Parks: every alert and closure
• Transport for NSW: trains and coaches to the regions
• VisitNSW: the official NSW travel site

Sport & field closures

Holidays

Next NSW public holidays

• Fri, 25 Dec: Christmas Day in 60 days
• Mon, 28 Dec: Boxing Day in 63 days
• Fri, 1 Jan: New Year's Day in 67 days
• Tue, 26 Jan: Australia Day in 92 days

Source: Nager.Date public holidays. Updated Sun, 25 Oct, 3:56 pm.

In the sky, next 14 days

Asteroids passing by

• Sat, 31 Oct: 2025 UK9, about the size of a car (roughly 3 to 6 m), passes closer than the Moon (314,648 km away) at 7.8 km a second in 5 days
• Tue, 3 Nov: 524522, bigger than three footy fields (roughly 207 to 463 m), passes 15.7 times as far away as the Moon at 8.7 km a second in 8 days
• Tue, 27 Oct: 2026 TB94, about the size of a bus (roughly 20 to 44 m), passes 5.1 times as far away as the Moon at 11.6 km a second tomorrow
• Wed, 4 Nov: 2021 VC4, about the size of a bus (roughly 11 to 25 m), passes 6.0 times as far away as the Moon at 11.2 km a second in 9 days

Source: NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory Center for Near-Earth Object Studies. Updated Mon, 26 Oct, 4:09 am. None of these will hit Earth. Most are too faint to see without a big telescope

Next school holidays

• Summer school holidays: Fri, 18 Dec to Wed, 27 Jan in 53 days
• Autumn school holidays: Mon, 12 Apr to Fri, 23 Apr in 168 days

Public schools in the Newcastle area. Source: NSW Department of Education · Private schools may differ

🧩 Crossword

Today’s Newcastle crossword in three levels: 🟢 Easy, 🟡 Medium and 🔴 Hard. Sign in free to keep your streak and best times. Play today’s →

✨ Horoscopes

Your stars for Monday 26 October. Full moon tonight-ish: big feelings, big fun. This is the Year of the Fire Horse 🐎.

♈ Aries (21 Mar–19 Apr)♉ Taurus (20 Apr–20 May)♊ Gemini (21 May–20 Jun)♋ Cancer (21 Jun–22 Jul)♌ Leo (23 Jul–22 Aug)♍ Virgo (23 Aug–22 Sep)♎ Libra (23 Sep–22 Oct)♏ Scorpio (23 Oct–21 Nov)♐ Sagittarius (22 Nov–21 Dec)♑ Capricorn (22 Dec–19 Jan)♒ Aquarius (20 Jan–18 Feb)♓ Pisces (19 Feb–20 Mar)

🎂 Add your birthday and we'll set your Western and Vedic signs: Day12345678910111213141516171819202122232425262728293031 MonthJanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec Save

Carrington beaches, surf & surf cams

Surf cams

Coastalwatch charges for its live surf cam feed, so we can’t show it here. Nobody pays to be on this site, and we don’t pay to show other people’s paid content either. Have a look on their site: Coastalwatch.

Swim between the red and yellow flags. Patrol times and beach-by-beach info: Beachsafe.

Source: Open-Meteo (modelled, updated hourly). Not for navigation. Which swell and wind suit each beach: surf-forecast.com break guides; patrols from council.