It rose to 35 C today, and believe me that is warm!
Early on I went on a bit of a mega-walk, visiting the Newcastle beaches and the streets of Cooks Hill, Merewether and Hamilton. Even as early as 8 am the heat was oppressive.
The above is Nobby’s Beach at about 9 in the morning. I’d walked along the foreshore soaking in the sights but there wasn’t much going on. Turns out everyone was at the beaches.
The left shot is another of Nobby’s (non panoramic), and the rightmost is Newcastle Beach (check Google Earth for details if you are not sure where these are). As you can see the weather was beautiful. If only you could feel the heat!
The above is a shot of the strip of rock connecting Nobby’s and Newcastle. The tide seemed low. Can you see the boats on the horizon waiting to enter the harbour?
The above is a shot of ’round the world’, also known as the ‘kiddy pool’. It’s a round (the panoramic shot distorts it a bit) pool filled by the ocean. Right now – and almost always actually – it is filled with sand. But under that sand is a concrete sculpture of a globe of the world, hence the original name. I found this out from a charming girl probably half my age who apparently knew a lot more about Newcastle beachfront history than I did! The sculpture has been there for aeons, and occasionally the city makes an effort to dredge out the sand and reveal it. But the tides bring the sand back immediately.
I saw many, many tiny crabs on the rocks today as well. Maybe it was the low tide that had them out in such numbers.
Yeah… you’ve heard of how Hollywood celebrities make ads overseas to make a fast buck, contingent on them never being seen in the USA? Even Jerry Seinfeld is not immune to the lure of quick cash apparently…
That’s a storm water drain, part of the network used to divert water to the ocean in times of heavy rain. In 2007 this network failed critically, and most of the Newcastle lowland was flooded. This one is not far from mum and dad’s place, and I couldn’t help when walking past it today but wonder if during the flood 2.5 years ago it was full of trees or cars or even animal carcasses.
Two birds. A magpie and a rosella. The first was resting by a road, but they are extremely common and can be seen everywhere. The second was in a tree at my Uncle Peter’s house. We spent the afternoon there for a barbecue.
There’s Peter himself, holding a guitar he 100% built from scratch!
And there’s mum, holding the dog Pasha (sp?), named after the ship that ran aground during the aforementioned storm.
Today I drank a whopping seven cans of Lift, in addition to a 600 mL and 450 mL bottle. This bring the trip tally to date (yes I’m updating it again) to a frankly disturbing 25.3 L. I bought a case of 24 cans when arriving in Newcastle and doubted I’d drink them all. At this rate I’ll finish them tomorrow – with five days left here…