Newcastle

Being a very sprawling city, Newcastle is much bigger than it seemed.  I stayed at a hostel just a minute's walk off the beach and that area in general was pretty sparse and lowkey - not much to do besides sit on the beach which was okay with me after lots of city life.



My hostel - Newcastle YHA.  It used to be a residence for the doctors and nurses that worked at the local hospital.


The first day I wandered up "Bather's Way" which is just a walk along the beach and out to the lighthouse.  A lot of the beach was pretty empty and I just enjoyed the solitude and read my book for ages.


View from Nobby's Point (by the lighthouse) back towards Newcastle Beach



View from my tranquil reading spot on Nobby Beach

 That evening I met a couple of other Canadian girls, Jenni and Elyse, when they checked into my room.  We checked a local pub - Finnigan's - together that night, and spent most of the next couple days together.  We hit the beach, made pasta dinners and played The Game of Life (Simpson's Edition) one night.
 

Jenni, Terry, Elyse and me after I won!  Yay!  I wish I had 1.5 million in real life though...

We picked up Terry in the kitchen that night while making dinner.  Later that night he taught me to play a (very short and very easy) song on the ukelele.

My last day in Newcastle obviously included more beach, but also going out to the Blackbutt Reserve wildlife exhibit.  It was mostly birds, but they did have a few koalas as well - my first baby koala spotting of the trip!

That night I hopped on the bus for a ten hour trip up to Byron Bay, which leads me to my next post!