Postcards from Australia

We recently visited Australia and stayed in the town of Newcastle, a 2 hour drive north of Sydney, and where most of my family are from.

It’s a place of great natural beauty, and we managed to capture some of it on a perfect (southern) hemisphere) winter’s day.

Thanks to the recent demolition of an old hospital, this is now the view from my grandmother’s place:

And taking a walk atop the hill behind the town center gives some lovely panoramic views:

Definitely worth a visit if you’re in Australia and want to see a “real” Australian town including surf beach and some historic convict settlement remains around the town center. There’s plenty of accommodation all around the main surf beach from backpackers to four-star.

PS – Newcastle’s most famous son at present is probably Daniel Johns of the band Silverchair. In fact, all members of the band grew up there, and he still lives there to this day.