.....A little doll will do it.....: A Day on the Coast

Mercedes was very excited, we were going to visit cousin Natasha down at Merewether beach. She had put together a box of things, it was Natasha's birthday.

"Did you say the beach?"

Yes

"I know someone who would love to come."

Okay

Hanalei (one Hawaiian kanani) had shelved her surfboard thongs and swimsuit for the winter and donned gloves, hat, coat, long woolen dress, long sleeved shirt, stockings, fur lined boots, and she has earmuffs on standby, with the option of creeping back into bed with several blankets to wait the winter out.

"Hey Hanalei, you want to come to the beach?"

"I've checked the thermometer

it's only 10 degrees"

"I suppose I don't need to go in the water, just to smell the ocean"

"I'm in"

We don't live that far from the coastline, we just rarely go there. So the plan was to visit each beach as we made our way down to Merewether (pronounced merry weather, and named after this fellow Edward Christopher Merewether, he had involvement in building our local area in the 1860's (Australia has only had English settelement since 1788, we're not very old)).

First stop Stockton.

The grasses and low bushes are to help with preventing sand erosion, the walkway to protect the grasses and low bushes from humans

"I can hear the waves"

in the distance is the Nobby's Headland, it is actually on the otherside of the river/harbour entrance. It used to be an island, but a break wall was added to meet the island and go beyond. It helped create Nobby's beach, and protect the harbour

it is hard to tell from this pic, but the sand down there is about 2 metres away - the storms we had in April were very destructive,

"weeeeeeeee"

tempting fate

sea shells

sand flowers

there is a coal ship heading into the harbour.

In 1997 we had big storms and a coal ship got stranded on Nobby's Beach, called the M V Pasha Bulker. You would have been able to see it from here to the right of Nobby's Head

more sand flowers

A rather dangerous don't do anything beach (I think it is also part of a protected Marine Area, so is also prone to sharks, the fellow who rescued Hanalei from a face plant didn't seem to mind, he was going to go surfing, he said he had a steamer (wet suit), Hanalei has that on her wish list now.Steamers range in thickness, our guess what he was wearing the thickest one).

We didn't mean too but some of the beach followed us back to the car.

Next stop was Nobby's. The road around the Esplanade is right on the water line.

Nobby's Head land, from the other side

I've forgotten the name of this area to that rock, it is almost an ocean pool

Nobby's Beach

just a bit too big

"ahhh, I could sit here all day"

"seagulls"

"fly my pretties"

"Fly, hmmm, not today obviously"

a flag on the sand

this is the Australian Aboriginal flag

I mentioned before that Australia commenced to be inhabited by the English in 1788, well for millenia prior Australia was in the care of the indigenous nations we've called collectively Aboriginals. The first full week in July is celebrated as NAIDOC week National Aborigines and Islanders Day Observance Committee (NAIDOC)

Newcastle Ocean Baths and Beach were both undergoing major works, so we did not get to stop until we reached King Edward Park. The lower roads in the park are not for vehicle traffic (there is a crumbling cliff face) and is the road down there on the other side of the rock wall. Down there is the Bogey Hole, a swimming pool carved into the water level rock platform (good photographing place for wave wooshes)

Samantha's gazebo/tardis was visiting the park

From the next lookout - that's the Bogey Hole down there

South - clouds a building

In the distance is the Newcastle Beach Ocean baths. We had planned to visit Trzlecki lookout and the Anzac walk, but the crowd (school holidays) the number of cars, and the road works made it rather uninviting, so we headed to Merewether with an hour to spare before Natasha and Peggy were due.