11 September 2012

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A grey and cloudy start to the day this morning and it was actually a nice change. Rachel had a mid-morning meeting so during that time I took a stroll around the Stockton waterfront. From there we moved on around to Newcastle to see the sights. A friend recently told me this city is a very underrated destination and he was bang on target with that assessment.

Newcastle is surrounded by eight beaches and this offsets the vast industrial area as you drive in. We were surprised at just how good the beaches were and as we went for a walk along one stretch of the coastline we admired the waves rolling in as body boarders awaited their perfect ride.

For lunch we stumbled across a little pie shop that sold their goodies for $2 a pop....practically 1980s prices. We had been planning to move further inland but Newcastle showed more than just a bit of promise so we decided to give it our full attention.

After finding a park we took in as much of the city as we could. In parts it appears a tad run down but in other areas the buildings of yesteryear have been fabulously maintained and this gives the CBD terrific character. If you were in a life and death situation for coffee rest assured you would survive to tell the tale; there was an abundant selection of little coffee shops and cafes.

We also found a great shop in the mall that sold classic LPs and a fabulous second hand book store that is likely to take more of Rachel's pocket money tomorrow. The day was finished off with a beverage at The Brewery set on the city's wharf area......nothing much to complain about here.

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