26 Jan 08: Newcastle and Port Stephen Trip

This is an over-due photo post..

We went to Newcastle, which is about one-hour drive towards north of Sydney. We went there on the Australian Day (National Day of Australia). There were not much activities in Newcastle city itself. There were some youngster wearing flags walking around in the city area. It was a hot & sunny day. Newcastle just made us feel more sleepy. We were told that it is the 2nd largest city in New South Wales. We really could not see why!? The day we went there… .the city center was really quiet.. there were some people gathering near the sea, celebrating the Australian day but.. we still felt that the city was a little bit bored!

The only bonus was to get on a free boat trip, sponsored by Newcastle Port Authority!! Anyway, nothing special!

After spending few hours in Newcastle and had a rather long lunch (becoz it was so hot out there), we decided to drive to Port Steven, which is about 40 minutes drive from Newcastle. It was a wise decision.

Port Steven is much more happening!! A merrier little town. We reached there around evening and there were a lot of people around the port area!! Guess what. We were treated to another stunning fireworks performance within one month!! The fireworks were wonderful and better than the NYE one in Sydney, IMHO. Because we stood really near to the fireworks.. and they were showering on us!! The sky was very dark in Port Steven.. no other lights (like those in Sydney) that distracted the beauty of fireworks! And most important of all, the fireworks were unexpected surprise!!! We didn’t even reach out for our camera.. just stood still and awed by the beauty of fireworks!

Port Stephen…. beautiful ya!

This place is called “One Mile Beach”!! The beach is not long but it is absolutely beautiful! The sand there was really fine!! Nice beach! A lot of surfers….Australian really enjoys sunshine and sports!!