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Date: Fri, 01 Aug 1997 10:36:13 +1000To: studio@toysatellite.org From: Don Pattenden <dpattenden@pegasus.com.au> Subject: Woy Woy to Newcastle Well, I've made it to Newcastle; 150km north of Sydney and only 882km from Brisbane; feels closer already. And the temperature has already gone up one degree from Sydney, a good feeling! Max. temps have been in the range 18 to 20 degs C since I've been here, and almost always one degree up on the Sydney forecast. The caravan parks I've been staying at since departing Woy Woy have been very mixed, and the mornings have been pretty cold. So I've really enjoyed making the most of my brief pause here, staying with my cousin John and his wife, Trish, in a quite luxurious two storey house in Merewether Heights, a suburb of Newcastle. John now works in Sydney so he and Trish live in a small unit there during the week and come home here weekends. Two of their daughers have married and moved out, and the third daughter, Susan spends most of her time at her partners place, so she just tends to breeze in and out. That means I've been on my own here four out of the five days I've been here. Lots of room to SPREAD OUT. And lots of mind space to think about things I need and do some shopping; make the most of being in a large town with lots of facilities. Get information too on the road ahead; maps, info on accommodations etc. All in all I got quite a lot done. Makes a big difference having space to think. Time too to have a play with John's computer. First time I've had a chance to play around with Windows 95. It's taken me all week to get the hang of it, but I can find my way around very fluently now. And what's more the floppy disk containing Eudora which Peter in Gosford helped me to set up works really well. John doesn't have an Internet connection so I've had to make other arrangements, but I'll get to that later. First things first: what has happened since my previous Newsletter, sent out from Gosford? That was back on Tuesday July 15. You'll recall that I'd been driven from Woy Woy to Gosford (leaving my bike at Joan's place) to stay with Peter for a few days so I could do some sightseeing of that area, since I was intending to bypass Gosford when I resumed cycling. Also meant that I could avail myself of Peter's considerable expertise with computers, especially PCs. With his assistance I was able to set up a floppy disk containing Eudora (v. 1.5.2) & all my setup details, as well as all of my nicknames [my Nickname file you'll recall had been converted across from Macintosh back in Sydney thanks to my friend, Robin's help]. Anyway, after I finally sent off that last Newsletter I had to pack up my things in something of a hurry. Peter had been very generous with his time while I was there, driving me around and sharing his computer knowledge, but he had things to do and so needed to drive me back to Joan's place fairly swiftly. Thus I arrived there at around 2 PM with my things packed somewhat haphazardly. They had to be largely repacked before I could even begin to load up my bike ready to ride. Well, it's become a painfully familiar story this, but it somehow got to be 4 PM by the time I was all packed up ready to go. Joan's house meanwhile had become somewhat chaotic with the arrival of her daughter Rebecca (on Sunday evening) and Mario, an Italian student visitting under a student exchange system. Several of Rebecca's friends were there as well. I got sidetracked talking to Mario -- telling him, interalia, about my stay in Reggio di Calabria much earlier in my life (1963) and talking about Italy generally. Time ticked by and before I knew it, the light was fading. Well, to cut a long story short, I ended up putting up my tent on Joan's lawn and camping there for the night. The house was a bit full at that stage, and that seemed like an obvious solution. It worked well; I arose at my usual time and went into the (by that time) silent house to follow my usual routine, doing my yoga practices on the kitchen floor. [Before I forget, many thanks to Joan and Peter for their very generous hospitality during my visit to the Central Coast. I was treated very well indeed, and very comfortable in both households.] So, my journey proper began the next day, Wednesday July 16, and here is how it went:-
Wednesday:- It's a council run camping area with pit toilets and tank water (no showers), the arrangement being that you pay the Ranger when he comes round. But being off season, he doesn't come every day. I was lucky, so it was a freebie. I managed to get my tent up before dark, but light was failing already so I found myself cooking (with my little Tranjia on one of the tables) in the dark. But the moon was full with no cloud cover at all so it was light enough, and very beautiful. (With just occasional help from my forehead torch.) I was totally alone (I enjoy those moments, in such environments, with the sound of the surf in the background) so I was free to sing and talk to myself as much as I liked. No cloud meant a very cold night, but I was snug enough though I did have to wear my Thermax undies in my sleeping bag (that night and for all subsequent nights til reaching Newcastle). The cold though didn't deter me from rising early, as is my custom, not quite as early as usual since there were no showers and yoga was out of the question. Still well before dawn though so I had the pleasure of watching the sunrise while stirring my porridge. The moon had set by then, but there was actually enough starlight to see by most of the time, once my eyes accustomed to it. A very eerie light it is and one can really only appreciate it in places like that with no artificial light. I must say I felt very pleased with myself for camping in location like that with such basic facilities in the middle of winter. This trip is really toughening me up. To think that back home I was such a softie that I actually used to take a radiator into the toilet for my long sits. (That's a secret; don't tell anyone). This is crazy. The time is now 1:50 PM and I still haven't started packing. What's more it's a beautiful sunny day out there. I really should be riding. No chance of making Nelson Bay today, so I might settle for taking the ferry across to Stockton to book in at the Caravan Park on the beach there. That's only a suburb of Newcastle, but it's at least on the way to Nelson Bay. But I'm going to have to abbreviate now. Pity; I really enjoyed the ride to Newcastle. Would like to say more, but that's the way it goes:-
Thursday:-
Friday:-
Saturday:- As far as I knew the C. Park there was the last one so I played it safe and booked in there. I had passed plenty of nice parks along the way, but this one was very small and very basic. The quite small laundry was closed at 5 PM for some reason so no chance of cooking in there. Didn't bother cooking that night - resorted to fish & chips for once. Next morning though, no choice but to cook in the barbecue area, covered over at least but exposed to the cold and very poorly lit. I managed though, and once again felt pleased with myself. Actually I was quite glad to get out of the tent. I had been warm enough, but there had been a VERY heavy dew (first time I struck that) and everything was damp, even the ceiling of the tent on the inside. Felt all ghastly and clammy to the touch. Yuk!!!! Got out of there very quickly. All turned out OK though. Usually does. The sun came out and it was a beautiful day. Several people expressed interested in my trip, including a very nice young lady called Angela. She talked to me for quite a while. She lives at the park apparently, in a rented van. Says she likes it there.
Sunday:- This is actually the first time I have every spent in Newcastle other than just passing through. One of those places you pass through (e.g. on the way to the Hunter Valley wine district, or horse stud farms) but never consider staying in. I must say I rather like the city now I'm used to it. Has a nice feel to it, though I don't have time to explain. As I said I managed to get a lot done while hear, but I only have time to mention a few:- Sorted out my documents (again!! - they keep on accumulating, especially maps, and printouts of email etc.) and posted lots of stuff north (some to Taree, some to Herberton for Dani to mind) 1. Fixed up my mail redirection which gets very complicated. A job well done. 2. Most important of all: I made contact with a Metal Working place (through the Yellow Pages) and got them to make me a small disk with a hole in the middle from stainless steel. This is for the specific purpose of using my little espresso coffee machine with my Tranjia cooker. It is too small to fit on the brackets that support the saucepan over the flame. I'm very pleased with the espresso machine (works well and makes wonderful coffee) but it has been very cumbersome holding it over the flame. I've been meaning to get something like this made up every since I bought the espresso machine. The result is a bit on the heavy side, but is otherwise exactly what I want. Certainly no worries about it buckling with the heat! I've tried it out and it works well. Can't wait to try it out in actual camping conditions. 3. 2nd most important. Went along to the City Library to ask about sending and receiving my email from my floppy, having first typing it as I am doing now. They gave me excellent service, knew exactly what I wanted and it was all done in minutes. Just insert the floppy and whiz!! 44 messages downloaded in minutes flat and then my prepared messages sent off. Brilliant! I was a happy little Vegemite. Good for the Library. The staff do a great job in spite of budget cuts. That's all. Lots more I could tell you but really must go. The sunshine beckons and I have all my packing to do. Until next time. Don. PS The has already been a sequel to the above. I am typing this at 2:30 AM on Saturday. Yes, and I'm still in Merewether. Ho hum! My departure went down in flames. Basically I just ran out of daylight, as at Woy Woy. After typing the above (a shade under 12 hours ago) I began packing frantically with one eye on the clock. Time ticked by. My things at that stage were all over this two storey house so it was a matter of racing around, upstairs and downstairs, from room to room gathering up all my stuff and then packing it, with the usual care, into the paniers. Actually, my biggest worry was not about getting to my place of accommodation by nightfall (I could have always resorted to the Backpackers in the city) but making the library before 4:30 PM when Bryce, the computer expert there who had been helping me, knocked off. After that the computer section was locked up for the weekend. I desperately wanted to send off all my messages, including this one before leaving Newcastle. Alls well though, thanks to Bryce's generosity and resourcefullness my messages will be sent off on Monday so by the time you read this I'll be well on my way. What I'm going to do is to leave a copy of the floppy disk at the library which Bryce will then use to send of the queued messages (but without downloading any new messages waiting for me - I'll get those next time). Phew. Phew. That was one big problem solved. And there I was, finally, with my paniers all packed ready to go on the bike, with the daylight rapidly fading. This time though, it was not necessary to put my tent up in the back yard. I phone John and Trish, still in Sydney at this stage, and they generously agreed to accommodate me for one further night. So, my aim is now to get a good early start (even 11 AM is early for me) and to make it to Nelson Bay today. Then hopefully to be on the ferry across to Tea Gardens (on the way to Taree) tomorrow (Sunday) at 12 noon. Better make that ferry cos there isn't another one (off season!) til Wednesday! That's the scenario. Next time you'll find out whether it worked out that way. PPS I forgot to mention the hills around Newcastle. I thought the hills at Bondi were whoppers. There is a really steep hill from Merewether Heights down to The Junction (where the nearest shopping centre is) which I had to climb up again every time I went anywhere at all while staying here, whether shopping or on into town. What a climb. I'd hate to do it with a loaded bike. Fortunately though I won't have to; downhill from here when I leave. :) That's all for now. Nelson Bay tonight either at the YHA hostel or the caravan park. If the weather's good I might opt for the latter; a bit cheaper and I've got used to camping. Besides, I'm longing to try out my new metal disk, making my morning coffee, under proper camping conditions. My new toy!! Catch you next time. Don. |