A Day in Newcastle

On Saturday, December 17th, we set off towards Newcastle in the morning and had to drive for almost 2.5 hours until we arrived there. Thank God the weather was a bit better today and we went straight to the Visitor Centre to find out about the must-dos in Newcastle. And we were lucky: on this Saturday there were two special markets in the city, where we could also search for gifts. The information lady recommended a free parking space at the beach, from where we could walk into the city.

So after we drove to this parking space, we applied sunscreen, packed my bag, and were about to leave when we heard a surprised 'hello'. We turned around and who was sitting in the car that had just driven into the parking lot? Mara and Fabian, our roommates from Bowen! So funny that we ran into them there again! Just like that, completely randomly in a parking lot in Newcastle :D They looked for a parking space and we stood there for a bit, chatting. It was really cool, the two of them had experienced a lot in the meantime. Unfortunately, we had to part ways again pretty soon because we were all hungry and they wanted to make wraps in the park while we didn't have lunch with us and had to get something somewhere. We thought maybe we could meet up again in the city later, but of course, that didn't work out. Such meetings can't be planned :D

Then we walked from the parking lot through a park where a Christmas party was taking place, to the first market. There were really beautiful handmade things and also a lot of special food. Everything, of course, at extraordinary prices. That's why we didn't buy any gifts or lunch there. While we were strolling through the market, it suddenly started raining heavily and we had to seek shelter at one of the food stands. That was really mean because it smelled so good!

The rain didn't last long and disappeared as suddenly as it came, so we could continue quickly. We got our lunch at Subway and ate it in the pedestrian zone. After that, we walked a good distance further through the city to the second market. It was much bigger than the other one and located in a park where a big olive tree stands, which is why the market was called Olive Tree Market. There were beautiful things again, but unfortunately nothing affordable for our needs. Also, many had already started packing up when we were there, even though the market was supposed to go until 4 o'clock. But strolling through was still very nice there.

After the second market, we walked back to the car and drove to the Memorial Walk. It's a boardwalk right on the coast, which slopes steeply in this part, so you walk high above the sea and the city. It was really nice! The view there was really great. Then we went back to the car and onto the road. Our overnight spot was only 1 hour away on the fastest route, but we took a slightly nicer route right by the sea, which took a bit longer. It was nice at the Ourimbah Rest Area in the Central Coast Region and we spent a quiet night there. From here, we started our exploration of the Central Coast the next day, as some places there were recommended to us by our host families. There's another entry about that :)