Berthed in Newcastle
Buongiorno. We arrived a little bit ahead of the scheduled 7 AM arrival time. The sun was just breaking the horizon as we approached the harbor. The sky was filled with light grey clouds and the golden yellow glow of sunrise as the Mariner pulled up to the dock.
The excursion begins this morning at 9 AM, Highlights of Newcastle and Surroundings. Only four and a half hours. The motor coach began with a thirty or so minute ride out to Hunter Valley and the city of Maitland. Here we’ll be visiting Maitland Gaol, or Jail for you Americans, also knows as the Maitland Correctional Facility, a maximum-security prison that had a 150-year-long reputation for cruelty before closing in 1998. Is there some comparison to Alcatraz?
Construction of the Maitland Goal was started in 1844 and prisoners first entered the gaol in 1848. It was the the longest continuously run gaol in Australia when it closed at the end of 1998. Alcatraz was opened in 1861 and closed in 1963. Australia wins! Both have since their closings been turned into museums and popular tourist attractions. It is a morbid unpleasant feeling in both places, but both are fascinating on their own right.
Alcatraz was cold and just far enough from civilization that the prisoners felt totally isolated. Maitland Goal is located, at least today, in the center of the city. The temperature is unpleasantly hot and humid. However, they grew a lot of their own food stuffs, so they had some outside time. Neither of them would be a plant place to spend your holiday.
After visiting the goal, we took a short ride into Morpeth. Morpeth is a bit further inland along the Hunter River. Morpeth was a colonial frontier town and it retains much of its historic character. We had a little free time to walk though the town.
It was princess day. Every little girl, probably within driving distance, had come to show off their princess dresses and meet the “adult” or nearly so, princesses also dressed in princess costumes. There was even a store in town that features everything process. It is aptly names “Fairytale Lane.” It was quite darling.
Another one for the journals is parking. We already know they drive on the left instead of the right. However, did you know that diagonal parking is also different. Like in the US diagonal parking is often used in commercial districts to maximize the available packing. In the US we pull into the space and back out. Here they back into the space and pull out. When this was pointed out to the driver, he simply said “how else would you do it?”. It appeared strange to someone who drives on the right and pulls into a space.
We managed to stop into a SPAR and pick up an ice cream. It is after all 85 degrees or better outside. Then we walked a bit further down the Swan Street to the Morpeth Antique Center. Normally antique stores don’t really have much interesting. This place was completely different. It is a good sided store with a large variety of things. It’s from the First World War, Second World War, jewelry, coins, paper money, and clothing. It was more like a museum than an antique store. Extremely interesting for a person interest in history or antiques.
The motor coach strolled back into town and on the way it passed several of the city’s architectural treasures, including the Romanesque Revival former Customs House and imposing Christchurch Cathedral, 200 years old and decorated with 70 beautiful stained-glass windows. The next stopping point would be a short pause to see Fort Scratchley. Fort Scratchley is a hilltop historic fort sight that overlooks the Hunter River estuary and Nobbys Beach. Now it’s decommissioned and serves as an historical tourist sight.
However, the view of the estuary, harbor the out to the Pacific Ocean from atop the hill on which the fort sits are breathtaking. Today the wind was up significantly. There was a point where even my bulk may have been blown off the hill top. The beaches in Australia have all been quite beautiful and well kept, and this was no exception.
After our visit to the fort the motor coach meandered slowly back to the Mariner. We didn’t get to do any walking in the city but we did get to see some of it. Except for the heat it would be a quite livable city. Australia appears to be a bit on the expensive side much like California.
It was a good day and a good excursion. Looking forward to two days at sea for a little rest before hitting Townsville. Buonanotte e Ciao, Enrico.
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