After a couple of days in Sydney trying to recover from jet lag, we headed to Newcastle for the weekend in a desperate attempt to beat the Sydney party crowd.
Newcastle is a couple of hours North of Sydney and one of the biggest cities nearby. We took an early Greyhound bus with a very chatty driver who talked for about 20 minutes non-stop about the bus amenities (with a special emphasis on how to use the bathroom in the bus) in a thick Australia accent.
Newcastle may be in Sydney’s far suburb but it retains a much different atmosphere. It’s quieter, much like a small town. We were a few minutes’ walk from the main beach and the ocean pools (salt water pools by the beach) and spent hours just lying there on the sand.
The highlight of our two days in Newcastle was the Blackbutt Reserve (funny name, I know!), located outside the city. Getting there by bus wasn’t easy but it was well worth it: we met the Australian fauna!
Beautiful pics!
I, of course, want to adopt all those furry animals (in my dreams)!
Ha! My best friend lives in Newcastle and they took us to Blackbutt Reserve when we visited them in July. Have a fantastic holiday 🙂
OMG, the Koala looks so cute!
Ooooh! Aaaaah! How beautiful!
Love the colourful birds 😀
I love koala! I’ve seen one at Calgary zoo but he/she was sleeping 🙁
There’s Greyhound down under? Amazing!
koalas are the cutest things! even the koala souvenirs are so cute! ;;)
@Em – The koala has big claws though, not sure I’d like to pet it.
@Penny – Really? Cool! We had a great time there, it’s such a nice place…
@Nigel – I know, he is my favourite.
@Margaret – So colourful… loved them!
@shionge – I know, they are amazing!
@Poem – They are always sleeping I think 🙂
@Linguist-in-Waiting –