Welcome to part two of our Oz vacation!
We have transitioned from the big city of Sydney to the small resort town of Newcastle, which is actually the second biggest city in the state of New South Wales.
I took billions of pictures on this trip and it was hard to pick pictures for this post. I could have put 200 pictures in this post—but might have been too many.
Let's get the show on the road here!
Thursday, 4 Dec 2015
11:25am—Elements Cafe. Came here to visit Mr. Tim Clack at work, and to get a meal. We have a little kitchen where we are staying, but too lazy to cook. We're on holiday—let someone else cook for us! Here's a video of Tim making us some meatloaf.
1:42pm—Time for a little beach stroll to work off the wonderful meal we had!
1:44pm—Overcast and humid, but who's complaining with these sights?
2:07pm—Haley, Gerant, Smoopy. I'm snapping pictures, and these guys sneak up on us. We met Gerant on our last trip here, and it's nice to see him again, and to meet Haley. We will see them plenty during our stay.
2:26pm—On our way to visit the Bogey Hole.
2:43pm—Newcastle beach. We got to the Bogey Hole, and it was closed. They are doing repairs to the stairs there, and it will be open on Saturday. We shall return!
3:27pm—Customs House. We're gonna meet Tim, Gerant, and Mick here.
4:10pm—See? I told you. The four of us could set a world beer drinking record—if we wanted to.
4:33pm—The party moves outside. The sun is out, the air is not so humid, so here we are!
Friday, 5 Dec 2015
1:49pm—Flat White alert!
6:09pm—Lucky Hotel. Dinner with Tim & Shannon. I wasn't really hungry, and only had a fried pickle appetizer. After the Clacky's left a massive storm broke out. Part of the roof over this dining area sprung a leak all over a table, and it rained cats and dogs for some time and I had no umbrella! We wind up staying here for over 4 1/2 hours—but this is a nice place, so all was good.
Saturday, 6 Dec 2015
1:22pm—Blackbutt Reserve. Here'a little Joey chillin' in a tree!
2:30pm—Guess who? Now these things are populating here!
2:53pm—This is the kindest, coolest, wallaby ever!
5:07pm—Northern Star Hotel. The bartender on the left nearly had a heart attack when I started to take pictures...not sure what she was worried about?
5:08pm—Budy & Coke on draft! As far as I know, this only exists in 2 bars. A rare find indeed! I did get permission to take this shot.
Sunday, 7 Dec 2015
4:56pm—We've hung at Clacky's house for a little bit, had a bottle of Sol, and now we're headed to a pub for more beer. Mr. Tim did not have any more left.
5:13pm—Here we are at the Stag & Hunter. We are going to wait for Mick to pick us up. Having a little cookout at his place and that is a perfect way to spend a Sunday!
5:52pm—Drive-thru bottle shop, literally. Everyone loads up on booze, and we're off for some food!
7:11pm—This is the only picture I took of somebody at the cookout, and it's Clacky taking the same picture I am! I sort of wish I took more shots here—but we were eating, drinking, shooting the shit—and time just passed by. There was a brief storm—so the grilling was done under cover on the deck.
Monday, 8 Dec 2015
4:55pm—Central. Mondays are boring wherever you are. After I watch the Chargers/Patriots on Sunday Night Football, I met Smoopy here for dinner.
6:22pm—After dinner, here we are sailing across the Hunter River to Stockton.
7:11pm—Gladstone Hotel. I don't have a link for these guys, because they don't have anything on the internet. It's just a good old fashioned drinking hole. Stockton is a whole different world. It's a stone's throw from the Big Penis.
It's a quick 2 minute trip on the ferry but to drive here would be 12 1/2 miles.
8:19pm—Nobbys LiIghthouse. We're back on the Newcastle side of the river, I was taking some pictures -- and check out the lightening action here! I've never gotten a lucky photo like this before!
Tuesday, 9 Dec 2015
12:18pm—Nelson Bay. We've come up here on a 90 minute bus ride for some "culture". First off, we're hungry and we got some fish & chips. Next, a very painful dolphin watching boat ride.
1:46pm—See that mountain on the left? it's called Mount Tomaree and we're gonna be climbing to the top of that thing shortly.
1:58pm—This is the only damn dolphin shot I got. UFB. A big ole UFB to everyone on the boat, 99% oriental people, all armed with $5,000 Canon cameras and they were rude as hell. They'd shove you out of the way in a heartbeat. It's a good thing I didn't get in a fight. As it is, I only yelled at one guy and I was happy to pull back into port. I will never ever never go on something like this again.
3:29pm—Mount Tomaree. We've cleared away from the boat people, and we are hiking up that mountain now. Here we are, about 25% up Tomaree. It's 93 degrees outside, and I'm as sweaty as can be.
3:45pm—Shoal Bay. We are about 85% up the mount now.
3:51pm—Zenith Beach looking out to Fingal Bay Island. This is one of the coolest spots in Australia ... it is really, really nice out here. We are 92% up the mount now.
3:59pm—We are at the top! It took me 39 minutes to "stagger" up here and I've lost about 8 pounds in sweat. But the view is nice! This is looking out where the Tasman Sea meets the entrance to Shoal Bay.
4:05pm—OK, enough of that—time to begin the slow schlep back down.
4:38pm—That is a big ass spider!
Wednesday, 10 December 2015
1:16pm—We have visited Clacky again, for yet another meal, at his work. Now it's time to go visit the Bogey Hole. We are taking the scenic route and here we are the the Obelisk. This is the highest point in Newcastle.
1:25pm—Still up here taking pictures!
1:52pm—Lovely day for a stroll!
2:25pm—Here we are—the famous Bogey Hole—my favourite spot in Australia!
Thursday, 11 December 2015
9:27pm—Gallipoli Legion Club. Tim's band, Schlauncher, is playing a warm-up show here tonight ! They have a big New Year's Eve gig across the street at Hamilton Station Hotel.
10:18pm—Schaluncher in action...
12:52am—Hamilton Station Hotel. Tim has to work in the morning, so he could not make the after-party. We had heaps of fun for him!
Friday, 12 December 2015
5:05pm—Central train station. We've left Newie, caught the train south, and here we are back in Sydney. We visit 6 pubs today, and are feeling a little melancholy because this is it. We have to go back home tomorrow.
Saturday, 13 December 2015
9:10am—Getting a ride to the airport. This part of the trip sucks!
1:04pm—Goodbye Australia! You were a great host!
9:12pm—We've arrived back in New York City. Of course we had to visit BillyMark's West again. We've been here twice in 16 days. A lot of stuff happened in between these visits.
Goodbye everyone!
Hopefully everyone feels a little warmer now!
Related Post: Another Trip To A Land Down Under: Part I.