Newcastle - December 2012
We rolled into Newcastle to take up a generous offer by our old snow buddies Jo, Will and their daughter Audrey to host the rowdy roadtrippers for Christmas (brave souls indeed). With only three days to go, Santa's helper had a very busy time ahead of her, but with the help of shopping chaperone Jo and some fancy pillow cases fashioned into Santa Sacks, we were ready to go.
Charlie and his Angels show off some of their Xmas loot.
Newcastle's unsung beauty
We were probably not alone in thinking of Newcastle as an industrial and mining town with all the mental images that go with that. True, there remains a lot of industry and some of it not terribly clean, but the spectacular coastline it hugs with its surprisingly intact coastal vegetation is stunning.
A couple of beach cowboys
The rocks are transformed into performance stages and secret hide-aways when the kids hit the beach at Dudley, just south of Newcastle.
Tessellated rock tiles indicate where Australia broke away from New Zealand - the Kiwis have been trying to get back ever since!!
You could watch the waves and blowholes pounding this coastline for hours.
Beach Day with a Twist(er)
Not long after Paul and Will scooted down to Sydney Harbour to watch the Boxing Day start of the Sydney to Hobart yacht race, we were all sitting on the beach and Paul was commenting how the unusual, cigar-shaped cloud pattern we were looking at over the sea was an ominous sign when spotted by a sailor. ``That's interesting'' we all remarked as we set up an array of boogie boards, brightly-coloured plastic buckets and spades, beach shades, fishing gear and some glasses of lovely, chilled Moscato. But, just as we all settled into our various favourite beach pursuits....it struck...a massive southerly buster that destroyed our little beach paradise. Our legs were lashed with scouring wet sand as Jo desperately clung to the flapping car awning whilst trying not to spill her drink. Boogie boards sailed gaily through the air for hundreds of metres and the kids and the dog sought shelter in the car. Game Over.
Lovely day for the beach.....not a cloud in sight!
Storm....what storm???
New Year's Eve
It was all about the kids really and the Newcastle waterfront turned it on pretty well, ending with a speccy fireworks display over the harbour
Only problem was, no one told the Craigs and the Greenes it was a dry show, so after rolling up with the usual gallons of bubbles etc, a quick, sneaky re-pack was in order. Thank goodness for prams and picnic blankets....pop, fizz, slurp, burp.
The Good: Living with a couple of foodies for a fortnight and eating gourmet meals every day, including a laksa and pancakes to die for. Oh, and then there was Xmas lunch...yum.
The Bad: Discovering that our wonderful canvas home did in fact leak after a few deluges in Newcastle.
The Ugly: Mouldy carpet in the tent (yes, we do have carpet...it's much nicer on the toes) requiring a few mould sprays and a good airing over Audrey's swing set. After 8 months on the road, the comforts of home are looking a bit more appealing....but, then again, maybe not.
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