Battered Suitcases

With pink, purple, and orange too.

I apologize. The photos in this post are going to be very repetitive. I couldn’t help it. The sky kept changing colors and I kept trying to capture each change.  So, after our month long stay in Newcastle we were ready to check out a few more of Australia’s famous sights, starting with the Blue Mountains.

The Blue Mountains are called so due to the blue tinge of the area when viewed from a distance. The blue color comes from the eucalyptus oil released into the air due to the abundance of eucalypts. This is a fact that you will overhear often from other tourists if you visit. We chuckled everytime we heard a new person explain it to their family or traveling partner. (And indeed, it is a good fact!)

We decided to use Katoomba as our base for exploring the area. I would recommend this to anyone else who travels this way. The weather was chilly and our guesthouse was particularly cozy. As I mentioned before, it had central heating! (A rare find in Australia.)

Our first night in town we headed directly to the Echo Point Lookout to watch the sunset. It was cold and windy and I was freezing my buns off, but I think it was worth it. Every time we would decide to leave, the view would get better and better.

It was a wonderful introduction to a beautiful region.

xo, jill

Our home for four weeks.

During our first road trip, I started to crave a bit more stability. So when we were offered the chance to work at a hostel* we liked, we jumped on it. (And drove like the wind to get back to Newcastle in time…) 

We started out thinking that we’d just stay in Newcastle for two weeks. Then, maybe three. Three weeks turned into four weeks and before we knew it, we had stayed a full month. No complaints.

We were able to establish routines, work on projects, and make friendships that went beyond the whole “Where are you from?” conversation. We were also able to sit down and better plan how we wanted to spend the rest of our time in Australia.

Here are a few favorite photos from around Newcastle. Mike took my camera out a few times, so some of these are by him.

Stay tuned for a little video of our time in Newcastle, too!

xo, jill 

*I’ll write more about our experience working at the hostel later.

Baywatch style.

On our way back down the coast, Mike and I stopped in Port Macquarrie again. You might remember it as where we celebrated Mike’s birthday and the place I sighted a wild koala. We had a little time to kill before we needed to be back in Newcastle so we decided to go whale watching.

This excursion was one of the first “touristy” things we did. And by “touristy” I mean, fun-things-that-cost-money. We had considered whale watching in Hervey Bay, but the price tag turned us away pretty quickly. Tours started at $85 AUD for 2 hours on a large boat with 300 people and went up from there. In Port Macquarrie we paid $35 AUD for 2 hours on a snappy Baywatch-like boat with 12 people*. I think we made the better choice.

Before we even made it out of the river we spotted dolphins. That’s something I didn’t realize about Australia before. Dolphins are everywhere.

To be honest, I think I enjoyed the boat ride just as much (or even more so) than the actual whale watching. The ride is fast and exciting, and if you enjoy catching wake you’ll love it. I was always a bit disappointed when we slowed down so we could actually start looking for whales.

It look a long time to find one, but we finally came across a teenage humpback. He came right up to our boat and did a bit of showing off. Our skipper was able to identify the whale as one he sees often due to a scar on the whale’s back.

I’m sure a different tour on a different day would have resulted in spotting more whales, but that’s the nature of the activity. You never know what you’ll see. Personally, I was happy with the dolphins, whale, and high-speed boat ride.

xo, jill

*I don’t remember the name of the company we used but we booked via Ozzie Pozzie Backpackers.