A short stay in Newcastle

After all the kafuffle getting out of Wollongong which were covered on our earlier posts here and here, we finally made it to Toronto (near Newcastle) more than a week later than originally planned. The purpose of this trip is really to check out the motorhome and make sure everything is working fine, which it was once that oil leak was sorted out!

We stayed in the driveway of Rob’s sister in Toronto to spend some time with her and use her place as a base for catching up with other friends nearby.

We spent the first day sightseeing around Newcastle. We especially loved the Hunter Wetlands, though not the mozzies! We were very fortunate to see not one but three Rare Freckled Ducks amongst all the other bird life there. A lovely day finished off perfectly in the company of wonderful friends near Morisset.

Rare Freckled Duck

On the second day we were escorted by Rob’s sister, Ingrid and we visited Fort Scratchley and were blessed to be there for the firing of the guns, since they had a few extra shots with a cruise in dock.

We can certainly recommend taking a guided tour of the Tunnels at the Fort. It was a 90 minute tour but never boring as the guide was very informative and interesting. Did you know that they actually did fire the guns at a Japanese submarine during WWII?

Fort Scratchley gun fired

 We took a short scenic trip on the way back after a leisurely & delightful lunch on the wharf.

Waiting for lunch on the Wharf

Unfortunately, this was all the time we could spare in Newcastle since our shakedown tour was delayed. We called in to the Manly area (Amberley) for 2 nights on the way home to catch up with one of our sons and a daughter who live nearby, since it would be close to 6 months before we see them all again.

With just a few days at home to complete the odd job and to repack for a longer trip, we were soon back on the road, this time to Melbourne via Deniliquin getting there in plenty of time to catch the ferry to Tasmania.