Removalists Newport.

Newport sits on the Northern Beaches peninsula, bounded by the Pacific Ocean to the east and Pittwater to the west, around 31 kilometres north of the Sydney CBD. The Guringai people occupied the area long before European settlement, and shell middens - ancient piles of discarded shells from generations of meals - remain visible today on the Pittwater side at Salt Pan Cove and on the ocean cliffs. The name Newport is refreshingly literal: from around 1880, the area genuinely was a new port for steamers carrying passengers and cargo, including local shell lime and firewood, at a time when the entire Pittwater peninsula was effectively only accessible by boat.

Bungan Castle, a genuine stone castle in a medieval style on Bungan Head, was built in 1919 by Adolph Albers, a German art dealer - one of the more unexpected landmarks on the entire Northern Beaches coastline. The suburb's defining commercial and social hub has long been the Newport Arms Hotel, now known simply as The Newport, sitting directly on the Pittwater foreshore and offering views that have made it a fixture for generations of locals. On the ocean side, Newport Beach is patrolled by one of Australia's oldest surf life-saving clubs, and the suburb's distinctive rock platform at the southern end of the beach holds a full-size saltwater lap pool that has become an iconic feature of the Northern Beaches coastline.

Access to the Pittwater peninsula remained genuinely difficult well into the twentieth century - a bush road eventually connected the area to Manly and Narrabeen, trams reached Narrabeen by 1913, and it was only after the Spit, Roseville, and Sydney Harbour Bridges opened between 1925 and 1932 that the journey from the city became practical for most people. Since the 1950s, Newport has developed into the predominantly residential, relaxed coastal suburb it is today, with the long-running Newport Beach Festival - now in its fifth decade - reflecting a community that has held onto its laid-back character even as property values have climbed.

Newport spans both the ocean side and the Pittwater side, and they move differently. The beach-facing streets are generally accessible; the Pittwater-facing properties often have steep driveways and the kind of approaches where truck position needs to be locked in before the carry starts. Billy is a Northern Beaches local and has worked both sides of Newport regularly - no figuring it out on the day, no inflated travel charges from a crew based in the city.