mɪstˈeɪkɪŋ mˈuːn ˈaɪlənd fɔːɹ nˈɑːbiz ænd ðɪ ˈɛntɹəns tə lˈeɪk mˈækweɪɹi æt swˈɑːnsiː hˈɛdz fɚðə mˈaʊθ ʌvðə hˈʌntɚ ɹˈɪvɚ, hiː əbtˈeɪnd hɪz kˈɑːɹɡoʊ ʌv kˈoʊl fɹʌm ɐ sˈiːm ˈaʊtkɹɑːpɪŋ ɪnðə sˈʌðɚn hˈɛdlənd æt ðə lɐɡˈuːnz ˈɛntɹəns—ɐ hˈɛdlənd sˈɪns nˈoʊn æz ɹˈiːdz mɪstˈeɪk—ænd sˌoʊ ˌæksɪdˈɛntəli ɹᵻvˈiːld tə ðə sˈɛtlɚz bˈoʊθ ðə lɐɡˈuːn ænd ðə kˈoʊstəl kˈoʊlfiːldz ʌvðɪ ˈɛɹiə.
Mistaking Moon Island for Nobby's and the entrance to Lake Macquarie at Swansea Heads for the mouth of the Hunter River, he obtained his cargo of coal from a seam outcropping in the southern headland at the lagoon's entrance—a headland since known as ‘Reid’s Mistake’—and so accidentally revealed to the settlers both the lagoon and the coastal coalfields of the area.