Friday, 15 July

 

Friday started with us going to sign our lease for our apartment. Grahame and Jenny dropped us off at the property management firm where we met Mecca.

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After the lease was signed, we went walking in the city and started looking for a place to have some fika. We found the café One Penny Black where we had some banana bread and cappuccinos.

We walked along Hunter St and found some market stalls where we found some homebaked cookies, which we bought.

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So walking over to the Queen’s Wharf, cookies in the backpack and sunshine in our eyes, we started walking towards Nobbys Beach. Nobbys Beach is a big beach located next to the hilltop where Fort Scratchley is situated. Nobbys has a lot of surfers, but also areas for bathers.

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Alongside Nobbys Beach is a walkway that goes past Nobbys Head and out on Newcastle Breakwall, which stretches out into the ocean where the Hunter River flows out. Nobbys Head is a big hill where a lighthouse stands.

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When we arrived at the end of the walkway, we climbed one of the huge blocks lining the breakwall. On top of the block, we sat down and had one of the cookies and some water. While seated, Linnea noticed that some of the people started to gather at the end of the walkway looking at something. When we looked, we saw four dolphins swimming into the Hunter River. Linnea went over to watch them while I just filmed the dolphins a bit and continued eating the cookie.

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Walking back, we went out to the beach and walked a bit in the sand. The waves were crashing in, surprising us sometimes when we had walked out too far.

While drying our feet, a fighter jet startled us as it swooped around Nobbys Head. Apparently, this is a manoeuvre they exercise at the nearby airbase.

Back in past Nobbys Beach, we stumbled upon Linnea’s classmates who are also going to study at Uni. We talked about the journey to Australia and the housing situation, and then we went separate ways.

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Before getting back to the apartment, we grabbed a bite. We had some fish and chips from Scratchleys on the Wharf and ate it by the riverside.

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Last but not least, of course, Linnea met a cat and had to pet it. The cat was nice and seemed to like Linnea. This situation seems to occur in every place we visit (it happened in Cologne as well).

Best wishes, Gustav