Newcastle

As I said before, it was an early morning for me.  As much as I loved the sights and sounds of Sydney, I'm very excited to get out of the hostel I was in.  All three nights I was freezing and actually got up really early in the morning once to take a 45-minute hot shower.  This morning was interesting as well because the desk manager came into my room around 4:30am and tapped me on the shoulder, woke me up and asked me what my name was.  I told him and then he just left the room.  Later when I was checking out he apologized and said that he was looking for someone from our room who didn't return the key.  I nodded but didn't really understand why that couldn't wait another hour and a half until I woke up.  I also had that added pleasure of seeing one of my roommates (the one with no ambition) stumble in at 5:15am after being out all night, turn on all the lights, rummage around, pull a beer out of the refrigerator and begin to play music.  At that point I had had it, so I got up (I was supposed to get up at 6am anyways) and packed my stuff.  I got out of there and to Kings Cross to catch a train to Central Station, where the bus would be picking me up.

The bus ride was smooth (I actually got a front seat!) and I realized that so far, the Australian freeway that we've been on hasn't wound through any towns at all.  There is just nature on both sides of the road...nothing built up, which is different than the billboards you are bombarded with at home.

We made it to Newcastle after a couple of hours (during which I enjoyed a nap) and I was the only one to get off.  Apparently it's not a very popular destination, or more realistically, most people are headed straight up to Brisbane.  I checked my luggage and the guy at the counter informed me that no matter what happens I couldn't lose the check tag unless I wanted to have to go through the police to get my stuff back.  I told him I understood and went on my way.  At first I was not impressed at all.  The town is really small and parts of it are rundown.  The university has two buildings, though the library is really nice (that's where I am now).  I walked around aimlessly for awhile before I spotted water.  To my surprise, Nobbys Beach was amazing!  There were a fair number of people out on the sand and for winter, the weather was great.  The waves were crashing on the shore and I knew that even though I wasn't dressed for the occasion, I just had to check it out.  I took off my shoes and started walking through the sand (which was white and soft).  When I got to the edge of the shore, I realized that the shoreline was pretty extensive and decided that I should run it.  I set my stuff down and jogged down and back, which was great.  Afterwards I just enjoyed my lunch and took my time sitting there gazing at the water.

After some time went by I decided to continue on and took the Newcastle Heritage Walking Tour in which you are guided by signs posted throughout town.  Reading about the town's history was interesting, but all of the sights have since been built up, so there actually wasn't much to see.  When I was finished it seemed as if all of the walking around I'd done in the past week or so had caught up with me, so I decided to gather my bags (the check counter closes at 4:30pm) and find a place to hang out until dinner and my bus to Port Macquarie.  Back at the bus station, I walked up to the check counter and rang the bell.  In the mean time, I looked for my luggage tag and realized I had lost it.  I don't know when or how, but it wasn't in my bag, pockets, or wallet.  I looked at the guy behind the desk and he gave me a form and said I had to take it to the police and get it filled out.  At this point I had an hour before they were to close so I pulled the "poor American tourist" card and told him that my passport was in the bag behind the counter if he would just let me get it out to show him.  He said that he would have to talk to his manager and when he left a wave of dread rushed over me.  But when he came back he said that the manager (apparently the man who had checked in my bags earlier) said that I could get them back without all of the formalities.  I was so relieved and quickly took my bags away after he handed them over so that he didn't have time to ask more questions or change his mind.

I lugged my bags to the other side of town to the library so that I could just sit and relax.  I'm here now and soon I'm going to have to go find a place for dinner and then wait awhile until I leave again.  I'll get to Port Macquarie around 12:45am tomorrow morning, check into the hostel, get some sleep and then quickly explore the town before I'm off again.  A whirlwind couple of days before settling in for more than one night in Coffs Harbour.