CAIT AROUND THE WORLD

March 5, 2023 — I had a bit of an earlier start to the morning as I was up, ate breakfast, and walked out of the hostel shortly after ten. I made my way into town, walking in the direction of Nobbys Beach in Newcastle East.

Newcastle is a major port, as you may remember from my previous post and the very informative walk that I completed (for a refresher, click here). I saw a massive ship from Panama docked, either being unloaded or loaded (I couldn’t tell which).

There were also so many sailboats out in the harbour that I figure there must have been lessons going on or something. It was a gorgeous day for it, too. Some wind and lots of sunshine.

I had a few goals on my walk, one of which was to try and find a used bookstore because I’d decided that I needed to cut down on my screen time. Since I’ve been in Australia, I’ve only had my phone and my iPad to read and write on and the amount of time I spend reading and writing is astronomical. Plus, in every hostel I’ve stayed in, there’s a bookshelf of some sort where people can leave and take books from. So, it’s not like purchasing a book would add substantially to my load and it’s not like I’d have to take it with me when I left a place.

In my Google Maps search for a used bookstore, I happened upon The Press Coffee and Book House. It was only about five minutes’ walk from where I was at the time and I made my way to it. That morning, I’d planned to perhaps treat myself to some kind of drink — coffee, tea, etc. — since I had some budget left over and it was my last day in Newcastle. Stumbling across this little spot was kismet. They had iced chai tea lattes, which was just perfect considering how hot of a day it was. I ordered one to enjoy inside and picked out a book — they had Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children, which is one of my favourites. I sat, enjoying my drink and letting the story unfold.

I didn’t end up buying the book as I have it at home and it’s one I would love to purchase on Kobo. Instead, I continued on my way to Nobbys Beach, stopping a few more times along the way. One of those stops was at The Book Grocer, where I looked again for a book but didn’t really find one to fit my fancy. I did, however, find journals. Not only has my screen time been up and bugging my eyes, but I’ve also really missed writing on real paper. I decided to pick out a journal and justified it with the fact that I can mail it home before I fly out of Australia if I’m concerned about the weight factor.

I finally made it to Nobbys Beach after two in the afternoon. I had a couple granola bars for lunch and laid in the sun for a little while, listening to the waves crash and writing in my new journal.

Later that afternoon, I walked to the light rail stop and took it back to Newcastle Interchange, then walked back to the hostel from there. Although I’m still not sure if it’s a signal of fall or if it rains leaves here all year-round, I got a kick out of seeing brown leaves on the sidewalks, especially as Australia is heading into the fall season.

That evening, I made dinner in the hostel for the last time and chilled the rest of the evening in the usual way: a movie cuddled in bed. (Well, not cuddled, per se, since this hostel didn’t have air conditioning and it was pretty warm in the room.)

On to a new adventure tomorrow!

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