The Rest of Our Weekend

Yesterday we had all day to play the tourist, but what to do?  Firstly, we decided to drive across to Stockton to have a look, but there really wasn't much to see there.

Now what?  Why not drive up to Nelson Bay?  Mick and I used to go there each year with our first little caravan and spend a week at the beginning of February, while it was still summery, but the school holidays were finished.  Well, the last time we did that was in 1995, and we haven't been back since.  It has grown a bit since then.

First we had a wander along the marina.  How cute is that flamingo on the front of a boat.

It is a prerequisite to have fish and chips for lunch when at the seaside.  We were lucky to find a seat in the shade of a big spreading tree.  Being the long weekend, it was so very busy.

Having said that, there was still plenty of room on the beach.  My family used to rent a holiday house directly opposite this beach for a week each year when I was little. It was painted pink and white.  My brother took his first steps on this beach......that was 50 years ago.  I used to love watching the fishing fleet going in and out......there is no fishing fleet any more. That house was demolished and replaced with a high rise back in the 1970s.  Times change.

How good is this.  A little boat that goes from beach to beach selling cold drinks, ice creams and coffee.  See the coffee machine at the the back.  They were just there for a short while before heading off.  What a great initiative.

On our way back to Newcastle we were reminded that this is a busy coal port.  There were several of these large ships being loaded and there was constantly a line up of them off the coast.

We had an enjoyable evening at our function last night before heading home today.

At least the Bylong Valley wasn't smokey like on Friday.

As we travelled home we drove through a few showers of rain and saw the evidence of some heavy storms in the last day or so.  About half an hour from home we hit a storm.  Wow! Was it heavy.  It was like driving in a wall of water.  You could hardly see anything.  It finished just before home and we had received next to nothing.  However, we had about half an inch of rain while we were away, which is very welcome.