Newcastle - Part 3

After the rain shower passed, it looked like it was going to turn sunny again instantly. So we headed back toward the city along the walk, and got up to the point where we'd started. At the top of the hill, we just happened across a man who was about to take off hang gliding. We stopped to watch and were able to be really close to him when he finally took off.

This guy certainly wasn't someone I would have picked to being doing extreme sport - he had long gray hair and was wearing sweatpants and a hoodie. His last move before running off down the hill was to light a cigarette and put it in his mouth. He circled around near us for a while, just smoking away.

Then we headed downhill. We came across an old fortification site, but in true Australian fashion, there were no signs. I learned on the train ride home that it was actually two separate fortifications: one from the 1890s to defend against the Russians and one from the 1940s to defend against the Japanese.

We couldn't go into the buildings, which was a shame, but it was interesting nonetheless.

Then we came to our last beach of the day: Newcastle Beach. It was a lovely beach but only about three people were out. Everyone else must have been scared off by the forecast!

By this point, we'd been walking around for about 5 hours, so we stopped off for a drink and a snack, and to rest our feet. Then we headed back into the city and toward our hotel. But we stopped off first to tour the Christ Church Cathedral.

On the way back, T made a friend.

We took advantage of there being nothing to do near our hotel and recharged with a nap. It was a perfect recharge after our day. That evening it was time for our last real adventure in Newcastle: dinner back on Darby Street. I'd picked this place called Coal River Company because they made pasta in the restaurant every day. It was a tiny place, so we got squeezed in at the bar, which turned out to be awesome because we could watch the two chefs hard at work!

Australians love to put beetroot in and on everything. It's not uncommon to get a sandwhich that doesn't list beetroot as an ingredient but to have it come out with giant slices of it. It's just considered ubiquitous to most dishes. I am not really a fan of the beetroot craze, but I decided to be adventurous and try the beetroot and ricotta gnocchi. It came out bright pink! T played it safe with a mushroom linguine, and we agreed that it was a surprising tie between the two for which one was best!

The nice warm, cozy pasta dinner was a perfect way to end our Newcastle adventure. It started pouring on us during our walk home and didn't stop before we boarded our train the next morning. Even though I was hoping for a sunny morning to fit in a walk to a lighthouse, the fact that we didn't get to do it just means we'll come back one day to see all the things left on my list! And I think we're both ok with that!

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