We have been working pretty flat out on the house lately and have not taken a day off for about three weeks so, as it was my birthday this weekend, we decided to take a break.
We took ourselves off into Newcastle to visit Fort Scratchley which was built in 1880 on the headland to defend against invasion from the sea. It was worth a visit and we enjoyed witnessing the firing of the 1pm gun. Fort Scratchley is in a fantastic position, it overlooks Nobby's Beach so looks down on the surfers but also has a great view of the coal ships as they are towed in by tugs to the docks. It is situated in a beautiful part of, what we are staring to discover, is a very interesting city.
Newcastle is a massive coal producing area and as you drive through the outskirts you pass the docks where enormous coal ships come from Asia mainly to be filled with coal, when we were there about five were being loaded in the docks, another was being towed in and a further seven could be seen queuing on the horizon. So you pass under endless huge bits of machinery that convey the coal from the mountain range of piles of coal on one side of the road to the ships on the other. There are also coal trains running alongside the road with an astonishing number of carriages, I started counting the carriages on one and reached sixty six before it was out of sight so I have no idea how many more there were.
Then, when you get to the part of the city where Fort Scratchley is, you find yourself in an area full of beautiful, ornate houses, independent shops and excellent cafes along a coast with world famous beaches and ocean baths. It's all rather nice.