Normally available for Groups (>12) only

• Duration: Approx. - 2.5 hours.
• Inclusions: Port Kembla Coal Terminal, Grain Terminal, Steelworks, Port Kembla Harbour, Gabriella Memorial, Breakwater Battery Precinct (alight weather permitting), Various Port kembla Industries, Hill 60 (alight weather permitting), Port Kembla Copper, Port Kembla Village

First Leg

Leaving the Visitor Centre the tour passes through the Northern Gateway of Industry World travelling down the sea road passing giant stock piles of coal and huge stockpiling machines.

The harbourside observation area provides views of the inner harbour and raw materials berths, the industries and out to the Five Islands. Several times a day giant bulk carriers will pass within 30m of this point.

The coach returns past the Port Kembla Coal Terminal observing the ship loading facilities and the "balloon loop" -  the rail receival facility for coal that unloads with the train still moving.

The massive Grain Terminal comes into view. The 25 storey structure dominates the skyline. The 30 massive storage bins have a storage capacity of 260,000 tonnes. The tour takes in the grain berth.

The tour makes its way on past the Inner Harbour casting basin where the segments of the Sydney Harbour Tunnel were made and most recently two giant oil rigs.

Second Leg

Through the BlueScope Steel Northgate past the Visitor Centre, the tour enters the Port Kembla Steelworks plant proper. The tremendous environmental advances made by the steelworks over the last decade are evident in the gardens and the plant itself. Visitors learn of the enormous site improvement and recycling programs and the many ingenuous developments that have been put in place to deliver environmental improvements.

The tour makes its way between giant buildings, past finished steel product, alongside massive raw materials stockpiles and between the immense blast furnaces. Molten iron can normally be seen being tapped from the Blast Furnaces. Giant vehicles share the roads with the coach.

The tour sees the No.6 Blast Furnace commissioned in 1996 at a cost of $460 million. It is the jewel in the crown of Port Kembla iron production.

Third Leg

Leaving the Steelworks the coach makes its way to the southern inner harbour vantage point, Portside Park. The visitors take in the amazing sight of the Coal and Grain Terminals from the other side of the harbour.

The Gabriella Memorial is featured in the park as a memorial to those who lost their lives in a ship capsize in the harbour.

Passing the Orica Plant the tour heads for the Breakwater Battery

Precinct. The tour group can stroll past an original steam crane used in the production of the breakwater (now of state and national heritage significance) and inspect remnants of coastal wartime defences installed to protect the harbour during World War II.

Also within the Precinct is the option of the Port Kembla Heritage Park. Visitors also see the new harbour Pilots Station and get a close up look at the outer breakwater.

This is an area of significance in local Koori history. Remnant midden sites are present along the beaches right up to Boiler Point and Hill 60.

A brief stop at MM Kembla traces the history of Copper products and the importance MM played in the development of Australia. (it is also around this area that the first Europeans to land on the Illawarra Coast, Bass & Flinders 1796, were helped by local Aboriginals.)

Fourth Leg

Onto the Hill 60 Lookout and "Red Point" named by Captain Cook in April 1770, for magnificent views up and down the coast, to the escarpment and Lake Illawarra. Learn about the maze of tunnels in Hill 60 built as a defence during the Second World War and even see hang gliders launch themselves from the peak when conditions permit.

The coach passes the 200m tall Port Kembla Copper stack before taking in Wentworth St and tracing the colourful history of Port Kembla Village.