Day 25 - Newcastle (Fri 3rd Dec)

After Chaggie and Basil had all agreed to go to Newcastle, Staggie planned the trip before we hit the sack last night. We woke up at around 08.30 and caught the 09.31 bus to Padstow train station. We caught the 10.11 train into Sydney Central where we met Basil before our 11.15, 2 and a half hour train journey up to Newcastle, north of Sydney. Chino wasn't so keen on the journey but obviously Staggie didn't want to come all this way and not set foot in the famously named city.

The train journey wasn't too bad, it also meant Basil, who has been in Sydney since he got to Australia a month ago, could leave the city for the first time. We also got to see some of the landscape and scenary between Sydney and Newcastle, which was actually quite attractive.

We arrived in Newcastle at 14.00, with the sun beaming down! Thats 2 days running now! Astonishing. Staggie knew that the Newcastle here wouldn't match the Newcastle in the UK. That proved to be correct. It's nothing more than an industrial city, very much what Newcastle in the UK used to be like a few decades ago but not quite as bad as that. Staggie wanted to visit the local football stadium where local team, Newcastle United Jets play (an A-League team) who are pretty big in Australia. We jumped on a bus to the stadium, it wasn't much to look at but the main reason for going there was for Staggie to try and get a Jets football shirt, however, their club shop wasn't open. Never mind.

Chaggie and Basil then had lunch in MacDonalds, just outside the stadium, before getting the bus back to the city centre where we headed off to the beach (Nobby's Beach) to have a look around. It was actually a very nice beach, but the wind was quite strong, which kind of ruined the affect.

After taking a few photos and chilling out for a bit, Chaggie and Basil made their way to the station again, with Staggie getting a photo next to a Newcastle sign on the way back. The train left at 16.27 and we arrived back in Sydney at 19.00. We then set off to the Cinema, before having dinner in a cheap pizza diner where they were offering 6 slices for $10. Not bad considering food prices in Sydney are quite high. We left Basil at his hostel before catching the 21.20 train back to Padstow. We then hopped on a bus before arriving back in Illawong at about 10.30. We watched some television with Kathryn and Jodi before heading to bed.

Newcastle may not be the most amazing place in Australia, but Staggie was glad he managed to see it. To be fair, we only spent a matter of hours there, so I'm sure there is more to it than a beach and a football stadium!

Chaggie x