CAMPSITE # 7 - We found it!!!

Sunshine... beautiful sunshine. One week in Blacksmiths Caravan Park (20mins south of Newcastle) in the beautiful sunshine at a beachside location is exactly why you travel so far and well, travel in general.... bloody beaudiful!

Pearly white soft sand, crystal clear water less than a minutes walk from our campsite - absolutely blissful. We set ourselves up in a great corner spot in the Caravan Park on a nice grassy spot, conveniently with two trees at perfect hammock hanging distance from each other. One entire week of waking up each morning and our toughest decisions were whether to lie on the beach or by the pool in the sunshine, go for an attempt-to-fish, go for a walk up the beach to the nearby coastal townships... anything we wanted... 

We made some lovely friends - a Northern Irish couple on their honeymoon - Ashley & Hannah. They were really lovely and the four of us even joked about how after spending so long as just a couple, as soon as you meet another couple the first thing you want to do is play cards.. against each other. Pretty pathetic really but I guess that's just what you do when you're camping and on holidays, drink loads of alcohol and play cards. 


For those of you who haven't noticed in the photos.. Tom has grown himself quite the beard. Not because he was trying to but more because of the fact that he just can't be bothered shaving. Apparently, I'm not the only one on the campsite that noticed Tom's massive growth of hair on his face...

We had a few families camped up nearby us and boy did they have quite the rowdy selection of children. One family in particular were camped directly across from us. They had four boys under the age of about 9 (poor mother) and they all had their little scooters that they would do laps around and ride past our site. One afternoon, I returned from the shower when Tom divulged to me that apparently he had just been the victim of child bullying. As he was strolling back from his shower, the four boys were following him on their scooters. One of the elder boys was following behind Tom making monkey noises and proceeded to mimic him and was calling out "Monkey Man, Monkey Man, hairy hairy Monkey Man". Making monkey noises and offering Tom a banana every 30 seconds was not so well received after about day 3.. for some reason. :)

We've found that campers are generally really friendly people. Even after just a few weeks, we have met some really lovely people. At Blacksmiths alone, we met & had friendly chats with - 

• Ashley & Hannah - the North Irelanders
• Herb - a travelling poet/author & photographer - gifted in all three
• John - hehe this one's funny - he was sent by his wife to LIVE in their caravan while she was busy selling their house because he made too much mess. So he got a holiday while she did all the hard work.
• Schultz - a 60+ year old german man on his BICYCLE who didn't speak a word of English and was cycling around Oz - we thought WE were doing tough
• An Australian couple who reguarly spend their overseas holidays in Sedgefield, South Africa
• The heir to Stocksay Castle - Ludlow UK who donated the castle to the Bristish National Trust & who was one of the very last Ludlow's left
• An Aussie guy named Gareth with his girlfriend who had quite their jobs and were travelling the East Coast in a Wicked Van to head to Sydney to study to become Yoga instructors

Of the whole week, there was one day that the weather didn't agree with us. But we were saved!! We were lucky enough to catch up with Susan's parent who live in Belmont South. Denise & Mick took us for a lovely roast lunch at the 16footer's club and then back to their place to be thrashed by Mick in a friendly game of Monopoly. If it weren't for the kindness of Denise & Mick we would have sat in the back of the Troopie boring ourselves senseless. Instead - we had a lovely day.

Things I've learnt so far - 

• When going to bed - jump in as quickly as possible and shut the door behind you. Every second equals 1000 mozzies who feast on my legs.
• When in a campsite - don't slam Troopie doors. Tom's strict instructions.
• Boys on scooter are cruel.
• Tom can't fish.
• Thousands of dead birds on the seashore is not a good look. (Due to rough seas)
• I don't like rocks.
• Tom likes rocks.

Things I haven't learnt so far - 

• The height of the roof inside the Troopie. Ouch!