It's Newie to me!

So over the weekend we took a roadie (they aren't road trips here - strictly roadies) up the coast to Newcastle, NSW or as the locals would call it, Newie. It is about 140 km away from Sydney and based on traffic, weather conditions, etc., I had been told that this car ride could take close to three hours --  there were five of us crammed into a mazda3 -- And me, being the shortest and the only female got to sit middle seat - both ways! So three hours in that vessel would have felt more like 6 -- thank goodness it took us right around the 2 hour mark; and that was with two unscheduled pit stops. The ride north was beautiful - green, lush, hilly - it was familiar to a ride through the Rockies in the summer time...but felt a bit more remote and exotic.

Although our trusty navigator, C.Spinos had been to this apartment in Newcastle on several different occasions he had never been the driver, therefore, he had never paid any attention to the route to ocean front property. Go figure!?

 And after a few slight detours (we stopped at a Shell station that we had passed twice before Spinos finally gave in to pull over and ask where we were) we found our way to 106 unit #1 at the Reef Apartments. It was a great spot and even in the dark you could see the ocean crashing onto the shore just 200 yards from our patio door - not only was the location convenient for the beach bums of the group, but it was only a stone's throw from one of the main stretches of restaurants and pubs. Friday night we kept pretty low key so we were able to get up and enjoy as much of the beach and sun as possible -- 

Newcastle has several beaches; we were essentially on Bar Beach, which faces the ocean head on, with no sort of cove, peninsula or any other natural barrier that would have helped blocked the whipping winds...and on Saturday the wind was whipping. And the waves were a bit sloppy making it difficult to swim or get a good wave in.

Luckily there were a few other options only a moments drive away; the main beach, Newcastle Beach and Nobby's Beach - both a bit more friendly to the beach goers, as they were more tucked away and had more of a constant, surf-able wave than Bar Beach could provide. We spent most of our days both Saturday and Sunday perfecting our body surfing and boogie boarding-- my boogie boarding could still use some serious work.

I am definitely a fan of the day-time beach culture, and the old town centre strip that was right around the corner from our place, on Darby St., it was full of shops, stores, apartments, and sprinkling of bars. But I am not so sure how I felt about the night scene in Newie; it was a bit rough, and I was unable to go into one of the establishments on the beach because I was in flip-flops...oh, excuse me, "thongs" -- so I was summoned to stay on the patio for the remainder of the night because of a no "thongs" policy. Garbage. No flip flops on a beach?! They must be joking! But they weren't......

Just incase I don't get a chance to catch up with you before Santa comes; Merry Christmas to all! And to all a good night! 

xo