Nuances of Newcastle

DAY 15
Location: Newcastle
Temp: 15 C--Feels like 8 C with wind chill
Weather: Partially cloudy, raining, windy as all get out!
Activities: Newcastle ocean baths, Hunter Street Mall, West Newcastle, Civic Park, Queen's Warf Tower
Accomodation: WakeUp!

I actually did get the 4-bed dorm to myself last night! And, since it was a quiet, restful night, I didn't feel all that rushed to hurry out of the room. Having paid for some net access, I updated a few things before leisurely eating breakfast (back to my meager fruit bar ration), getting ready, packing up, and checking out. I dumped my bag in the day storage and finally walked about this unorthodox YHA. It really is like an old English school, complete with dorms, communal bathrooms and showers, fireplace commons, huge common area with pool table, computer lab, kitchen. All it needs are the classrooms. Even the furniture here screams Ye Olde English pub.

Having my fill, I walked out of the YHA and into the wind. The kind of wind that you can lean into with some force and not fall flat on your face. Mean wind.  Vengeful blustering gales. Good morning to you too, Newcastle!

I made my way to the beach and the ocean was all whitewater; just rabid with froth as the wind whipped the seas to the shore. The cloud I saw roiling in was actually saltspray. But with the sun on my back I pressed on past the empty skate park, the crumbling cliffside, and down to the ocean baths carved especially for this navy rear admiral. I didn't even know they were there and stumbled upon them while watching the furious sea pound its breakers on the rocks below. I was at least twenty feet up from the rocks, but the waves exploded up to where I was standing. I got wet. It was amazing!

My eye on the threatening rainclouds out to sea, I beat a retreat back up the coast and wandered into to town for lunch. I went up and down Hunter Street Mall in search of a bite and passed a place called One Penny Black; this coffee shop with a lot of character. I passed it twice and found I kept coming back to it. Before I could walk in though, the petite woman ahead of me commented about the clothes on the street and I remarked I couldn't afford them and she knew instantly I was foreign and extended a formal greeting. Nice lady, but she made me think of a witch. A nice witch! Is that awful? She was very kind though and we parted on good terms as I doubled back to the One Penny Black for an apple-soaked-in-blueberry danish and a moccha: $10. INSANE!

The nice thing about Hunter Street is the city provides two hours of free WiFi! So I posted several backlogged pictures of my journey to Facebook, checked mail, etc. All the my heart's content, before moving on to find the local Woolworth's for a cheap lunch and to pick up some incidentals that I'd run out of. (Floss and shampoo among them.)

It was a good twenty minute walk to West Newcastle but I walked past Civic Park, the Newcastle Council building, and a bunch of other shops. Hunting for some travel-sized goods (and finding none) I ran into the witch lady again! It's a small Australia indeed. We chatted about sports awhile, surprisingly she's a fan of some American tennis players, before parting again and I walked back to Civic Park to eat yet another bag of Caesar. A sharp whistle on my left announced  the intentions of a hungry local bird as it eyed me and my lunch. It pecked around my feet for some old chips and I watched in a removed bemusement as it hopped beneath my legs and back again. Fearless.

After lunch, I returned to Hunter Street to eat up my free WiFi minutes and this homeless guy came to sit next to me on the bench. He carried a smoke, a guitar and a drink--which I thought was illegal in Australia--drinking in public like that. And it seemed he was already drunk. He played me a song when I asked him about the guitar, something by Neil Diamond, and I played an Irish song for him and then he begged me to give him a kiss. Really? He hadn't kissed a girl in six months. Can't help you there, partner. He was extremely insistent and I took that as my sign to leave--which I promptly did. All righty then, Newcastle, what else you got for me?

I went up and over the street to the Queen's Warf Tower, found it open, and climbed up the 30 meters to get a panoramic bird's eye view of the city. It also took me out of the beating, relentless wind and I had the tower to myself for the entire time I was up there. The whole thing swayed because of the wind though, which was a bit unnerving--and probably the reason why I was the only one there! It served as my refuge for a good long while before the setting sun prompted me to come back down and start walking back to the YHA. The wind swept me right back into a chill as I walked along the harbor and finally back to the YHA.

It was a full day of walking and sights and tonight I catch the late bus to Sydney. The last!

Wandering Coffs bluffs and the road to Newcastle

DAY 14
Location: Coffs Harbour/Newcastle
Temp: 20 C
Weather: Beautiful clear morning, to rainy afternoon.
Activities: Walk to Muttonbird Island, and another long bus ride
Accommodation: YHA Newcastle

I got up late in attempt to recover from the evening prior but remembered I still needed to check out. It was 8:30 a.m. and I woke my roommates, my two new French friends, just before 9 to give them a running start as well. I packed up and went to the kitchens to eat where I ran into my Japanese friend and we ate breakfast together. I now had toast and he shared his butter and milk. These guys, they were just so great!! I gave them some momentos from Hawaii and they loved them.

I gave my friends hugs and said I hoped to see them in the islands someday before going to check out.

Thank God I had the milk because I went on quite a walk to Muttonbird Island on the far end of Coffs Harbour. The morning was beautiful and I wasn't about to waste this little blessing after the inclement weather yesterday. So I took off down the road around 9:30 a.m. or so, walked through the park, over the Coffs Stream, through the south part of the park and through the boating harbor to the island. The ascent was pretty verticle but manageable and I walked over this narrow brick trail hunting for Shearwater birds, only to learn they'd all gone for the year. But the whales would be here instead. I followed the path until it ended on the very eastern end of the island in an overlook. I watched the waves crash on the rocks awhile before going to sit on the bench and debate whether to buy lunch here or get it somewhere during the bus ride at 2:00 p.m.

I spotted a puff white over the sea in the distance and there were whales breaching out there! They were breaching like crazy! Every few seconds I'd see a body and a splash of white. It was neat to watch even though it was a little hard to see since they were so far out. I frowned on a fishing boat spying the commotion and arcing toward the gentle giants. I headed up and out of the island then and back on the far side I saw the boat had reached the spot the whales were playing, but the whales were no longer breaching. So fishing boat, take a cue and leave the whales alone--you ruined their fun with your noisy dingy.

I wandered back and at around 1:20 p.m. I popped into the reception to see if the man in charge was ready to take me back to the bus station. He told me to come back in 15 minutes and I went to the restaurant in the corner where I asked the girl at the counter if she could have a meal out in short order. When did I have to leave? I had 10 minutes to eat lunch. Yeah, I knew it was impossible, but she stopped me and pulled a chicken parmigini off the line and pushed it into my hands where I thanked her profusely for allowing me to cut ahead of the waiting lunch pack like that.

I tucked in to my meal, grateful to eat something instead of hoping for the best and cleaned my plate. Then I headed back to reception where Frank was ready and out we went to the stop. I inquired a bit about the money woes he seemed to be having and he told me about his grand designs for the Howie Mowie. I'm not normally all that interested in business, but his ideas were fascinating.

I thanked Frank for the ride because it was pretty far from the hostel and lugged my things down the walk to drop them next to the other backpacker waiting for the bus. It had been late yesterday, it certainly would be again today. And it was by 45 minutes. But I was fed and made a friend, so I'm not complaining.

The bus was supposed to show at 2, it came at 2:45 p.m. and we piled in for the long haul to Newcastle due to arrive at 9:10 p.m. We stopped at a BP for a dinner break and I got a burger. I just wanted some meat to tide me over to tomorrow, and I sat down with my friend from the bus stop to eat where a new girl joined us and I discovered we were both going to the same hostel. Sweet! I didn't have to walk Newcastle alone at night!

Despite the delay, we actually reached Newcastle on time and didn't quite know which way to go. I went over to some backpackers down the way to ask directions and they pointed us down one street. My Netherland friend and I went that way and could not find the street, but some guy walking up the street asked us if we were lost and led us to a hostel on Pacific St, where I knew the hostel was located. But we went in and the guy at the counter said this was not the YHA and directed us a little further up the street. We finally found it, yay! Normally I would have been agitated by the whole thing, but I just rolled with it, surprised and happy to have received so much willing help.

This YHA is cool! It's like this old English style school building! I was supposed to be in a 6-share, but got upgraded to a 4--and there's NO one here but me! I might actually have the place to myself tonight. Yeah! I'm really excited to check out Newcastle tomorrow. I'm glad I cleared up some time in my schedule to get a rough n' tough idea of the place before hitting Sydney.