Eleventh and twelfth days in a land down under

 

Hunter Valley

As the hoary saying goes, all good things must come to an end, and our R&R trip to Australia was no exception. For our penultimate breakfast, the girl (younger one) and I walked down to The Kiosk, a small cafe right on Newcastle Beach:

I had a toastie, though 24 days after the fact I can't recall which kind it was:

Surfers, like golfers, don't care how blustery conditions can be:

Posing by the Newcastle Ocean Baths following breakfast:

We learned a new Australian English word (I grew up calling those "cannonballs"):

We returned to our room at the Alloggio Newcastle Beach Hotel long enough for me to change into swimming duds. Despite the chilly conditions, I was determined not to repeat the mistiming of the previous day. Amber came along to snap a couple of pics (for evidence) before returning to our room. I would end spending roughly an hour swimming in the saltwater pool:

Swim complete, I also returned to the room, and soon the three of us (my wife now included) were in the rented Toyota Corolla hybrid, and on our way to Hunter Valley, Australia's oldest winery region. First stop was the Visitor Information Centre, where we had lunch in the attached cafe:

Armed with a free map and some brochures, following lunch we drove to the Hunter Valley Chocolate Company to sample (and purchase) some of the sweet treats:

Taking in the scenery behind the chocolate shop:

Next up was the Hunter Valley Smelly Cheese Shop, though we didn't end up buying anything there. Bloody tourists...:

Neither Shu-E nor I are wine snobs aficionados, plus I was doing the driving (and our daughter was still under age), so only my wife did any wine tasting. The one winery we stopped at so she could partake was at Vinden Wines:

While Shu-E tippled on this...:

...Amber and I took a walk around the vineyard...:

...where we encountered a wombat in the wild!:

The woman working in the wine tasting room told us later that wombats aren't a threat to the vines, in contrast to kangaroos, which are considered a serious pest. So serious that at a later stop we would hear gunshots that were presumably intended to drive away some 'roos (at least according to a conversation I overhead while the shots were being fired).

A frequently seen sign that we passed several times while driving outside of Sydney were the ones warning of floods, sometime accompanied by poles indicating how high previous inundations had reached. The climates in Australia and California have much in common - both try hard to kill the residents in the form of bushfires (or brushfires, in California) and storms. At least Australia is tectonically the more stable of the two:

We arrived at the Audrey Wilkinson Vineyard too late in the afternoon to taste some wine, but we did have time to enjoy the scenery (and listen to the aforementioned gunshots):

Note the snake warning:

We returned to Newcastle, and with the sun still up, had dinner at Scottie's, dining outside at a picnic table. I ordered the fried mussels, with a can of Yulli's Seabass Mediterranean Lager with which to wash it all down:

My wife, being averse to most things of a sweet taste, opted to spend the rest of the evening inside. The girl and I, however, needed our fixes, so we headed off to the East End Ice Creamery for some dessert:

Afterward, we went for a walk, passing by the Customs House Hotel, which operated as an Australian Customs office 1877-1989:

We also had a look at the Old Newcastle Train Station, now a shopping mall (though everything was closed by the time we strolled along):

Exploring some of Newcastle's quieter streets:

We walked as far as Nobbys Lighthouse, where we watched a long cargo ship of some kind being pushed out to sea by a tugboat:

Sharks - relegated to the second row on the warning sign:

My nightcap:

Our final night in Newcastle (and in New South Wales, and in Australia) was rudely interrupted at 0345 by the fire alarm. We joined the other guests in calmly making our way outside from the second floor, and waiting for the fire brigade to give us the all-clear. That's Amber with her arms folded on the far right:

We were soon allowed back inside, where I discovered that our room was literally next door to the emergency exit. We could have easily evacuated using that route instead of following everyone else, but didn't thanks to my glaring lack of situational awareness. Rumor had it the alarm went off due to someone having a smoke in a room on the floor above us. I wonder if they also had to pay an A$1766 ($300) fine as a result:

That morning Amber and I went out for breakfast one final time, dining outside at Moor Newcastle East. I could've ordered the "Not Another Bloody Healthy Bowl", but I went instead with the "Croque Monsieur Toastie":

Following breakfast, we took one final stroll down to the seaside:

I was envious of this cat, getting to enjoy life by the sea. Newcastle seemed to be the kind of spot where I would like to retire:

The view from our hotel room as we checked out:

I had made arrangements to return the car at the airport rather than from the Hertz office in Sydney's CBD, where I had initially picked up the vehicle. With time to kill before our evening flight back to Beijing 北京 (where it would be -11°C/12°F when we landed early on Sunday morning), we stopped off at a shopping mall. At one of the supermarkets there I purchased nine types of Tim Tams, which would make me a very popular person when I returned to the office the following Tuesday. I passed on the vegemite (sorry Oz)...:

and on the kangaroo meat, though not because of the taste of the latter. Remember, I had some on a pizza earlier, and it was quite tasty (though my daughter found it a little gamey):

With plenty of time still remaining, we avoided the motorway after leaving the mall and tried following the coast down to a place called Budgewoi:

Budgewoi Lake:

I had to get a photo of an Australian rules football field:

Our final lunch Down Under was at The Swordfish Co., located along Budgewoi Creek. I had to drive:

Barramundi:

Eventually, though, it was time to get a move on, and so we soon found ourselves back in Sydney, making our way through Saturday traffic to the airport. On the way I drove past this poster for an upcoming gig proving that the 1990's still live on:

After dropping the car off, it was time to check in and then wait for our flight. I did so with the assistance of some Kiwi beer and an Anzac biscuit:

Finally! Some vegemite that I actually liked!:

Twelve days, eleven nights - six in Sydney, plus two in Katoomba, one in Bateau Bay and three in Newcastle - and yet we barely scratched the surface of what to see and do in New South Wales, let alone in Australia as a whole. Some of my shallow, less-than-brilliant observations of the region included:

• England, but with American-style scenery, and
• England, but with better weather, and 
• South Africa, but without the crime

So, in other words, I haven't a clue as to what makes this nation so fascinating. But I did feel a comfortable combination of the strange yet simultaneously familiar. Would I like to go back? Yes, in the proverbial heartbeat, even if mine has been disconcertingly misfiring a lot recently. I have several friends and acquaintances scattered about the continent but didn't get a chance to meet up with any of them (though I did have a nice chat with Josh in Hobart via Facebook). So perhaps I could return, and get together with some of them, even if only briefly.

With my daughter in the process of applying to colleges, I frequently jokingly suggest that she should think of studying at an Australian uni. That way, she could stay in the country after graduation, find a job, become a permanent resident and then arrange for Shu-E and I to retire there to a life of peaceful relaxation by the seaside.

Only I don't think I'm kidding.

Thank you for coming along on this series of blogposts. Signing off with "Darlinghurst Nights" by the Go-Betweens: