I’ve found, during many of our recent vacations, there comes a time when you start feeling more like a local than a tourist. Yesterday was such a day for me. I’ll admit I have an unfair advantage in this area (am I a tourist, as I stay here in Newcastle?), but no-one other than a local or ex-local would have taken the walking tour I did yesterday.
“Newcastle is dying.”
I said the above several times during the last few days, and I was referring specifically to the Newcastle CBD. It’s easy to believe given the sad state of Hunter Street, but looking at things with a critical eye yesterday afternoon and this morning (during two monster walking treks all around the city) has led me to believe quite the opposite. Yes the CBD is a mere echo of what it once was, and yes Hunter Street – especially the west end – has lost almost all of it’s once-appeal.
But the ghetto of the easternmost suburbs (in which both BS, AW and MMcN once lived) is all but gone, replaced with either expensive high-rises or what appears to be the bohemian homes of urbanites. The Newcastle Hospital is gone, and currently being rebuilt into top dollar apartment buildings (similar to those build on the westernmost foreshore area). As the people, with their higher incomes, come, so too will the redeveloped Hunter Street (or so I assume). Slightly to the south, Darby Street is better than ever (although still no Beaumont Street) and the suburbs to the southeast (between Cooks Hill and Mereweather) retain their charm. As much as my initial opinion of the state of the city was based on the absence of so many of the spots of my child and teenage memories, so too did I miss the fact that life goes on just outside the CBD borders, and indeed the city suburbs seem more vibrant and promising than ever.
The Newcastle City Council has a slogan, one part of which claims a bright future for the city. I still love this city, and I hope their dream comes true.
Yesterday’s walk took me from my parents house into the city via Markettown (a walk of perhaps an hour). The sun was relentless and I had a sore throat, but it was good to get out in the fresh air and use my body.
The two shots above show what was once the legendary Orbit 100 arcade (mentioned in that blog post of months ago about my gaming past). Strangely enough, the building seems to have become a repository for ancient mechanical game machines. One of these was notable, which you can see in the rightmost picture.
< A shell
Mum asked me if I ever went to the Palais (a legendary club popular during my teenage years). I honestly can't remember if I did. At any rate is it literally a shell now - as in gutted out. Creative graffiti makes it a bit of a spectacle, but I assume the wrecking ball is imminent.
Rices books is still open, albeit hardly. He lost a lot of stock in the flood apparently, and doesn't want to keep the store open. I bought a Graham Masterton hardcover for a mere dollar, and continued toward SFX past this landmark:
< When?
The part of SFX that was there when we were is the same as it ever was. The new part, well I had never seen it before. Gone are the temporary classes, replaced with brick buildings and some sort of large auditorium. The memories, peering through the gates (it is locked up until late January) were a little overwhelming.
I have trouble with nostalgia, incidentally.
I suspect these photos will bring back memories for other readers of this blog as well:
This morning (Wednesday) I went on another marathon walk, back to the city (my destination was the art gallery) via Bar Beach and Darby Street. The entire circuit took about 3.5 hours, again in relentless heat, but again extremely enjoyable.
< Bar Beach (on right)
I saw these two fellows in my wanderings:
And these:
Now I’ve posted a few spider shots on the blog already. Two orb weavers (the furry-looking ones) and a saint andrew’s cross spider. But the guy on the right above was unquestionably the largest and creepiest spider I have seen so far. He was in the front yard of a house up on the bluff of Newcastle, sitting in his enormous, strangely three-dimensional web. From leg-tip to leg-tip he was about an inch longer than my camera – so about 10-12cm in length. His body was about as big as a very large grape. He just sat on his web, idly moving two of his front legs in the air. With the orb weavers I didn’t care too much about putting my camera up very close to get a good shot, but I’ll admit I was very wary of this guy, and only moved my camera as close as absolutely necessary to get him to fill the image (about a foot).
Here’s some family shots taken during these last couple of days. The handsome guy on the right in the third shot is my uncle John (my mum’s brother), whom I hadn’t seen for over 15 years.
And I’ll end with a food shot. A self portrait at that. Can you guess what I am eating?
< What is it?
Is that a clue in the background? 🙂