Little weekend getaway

Matt picked me up from work on a Saturday afternoon and we made a bee line for Newcastle. It’s only a couple of hours from Sydney so it didn’t take long. We arrived at our AirBnB accommodation and found that it was on a quaint little one way street full of quirky terraced houses. Every property had its own unique style and we loved the feel of it straightaway. The house we were staying in was cosy and full of beachy/ surfery decorations. That evening we went for a stroll along the wharf and sat outside having a drink, watching all of the fishing boats come in. It was a beautiful evening and not too far away we could see the silhouette of the huge steel works. It reminded us both of Port Talbot and the kind of place that could become if the weather was a little kinder in Wales.

The next morning we started the day with brunch in a café overlooking the beach and then set off on the ‘Bathers Way’ coastal walk. It was only when we got to Mereweather beach (the end of the walk) that we really appreciated that it was just a one-way track so we had to retrace our steps back to Newcastle. The views were impressive enough to enjoy twice though. We then went to check out Darby street which is packed with independent cafes and shops and found a great little place for lunch. Later in the afternoon, we walked to Nobby’s Lighthouse which is at the end of a spit of land. It gave great views both of Newcastle and out to the Pacific Ocean. After this, we tried out the Newcastle Ocean Baths - the biggest rock pool we have seen so far in Australia. As you swim lengths there are hundreds of little fish darting out of your way and some quite hefty fellas as well. Sunset was an awesome time to do this and showed the pool in a great light.
In the morning we set off for Port Stephens, a bay just above Newcastle. The plan was to go kayaking but after a bit of searching we couldn’t find the shop anywhere so ended up going snorkelling, which was glorious but too chilly to stay in the water for long. After that we climbed up to a lookout, it was about 1km uphill but worth it for the amazing views. Then we headed off for our AirBnB which turned out to be the nicest one we’d stayed in. It was a little

studio apartment at the end of the garden. They recommended a spot nearby to watch the sunset over a beach so we took a couple of drinks and saw the surfers catching the last few waves before it got dark.
The next morning we had our last adventure – quad biking on the sand dunes! When we first saw the bikes I got really nervous because they were massive! It was just the two of us with an instructor which was good because I definitely went quite slowly! After a while, we stopped for a photo and I had cramp in my thumb because I’d been holding on so tight! It was a crazy experience and we went down some ridiculously steep sand dunes. I wish I could go again though because I only relaxed about half way through.