Newcastle

One of my new year's resolutions was to try and take time out to do more things for myself. Follow my interests, my passions, and treat myself. I'm going to be 30 in March so it's time to start behaving like an adult and getting out and seeing more of the world. But, as i'm not a fan of travelling, baby steps ...

I really love art and culture and so I decided if there was anything I ever wanted to see or visit in Australia i'd do it. But because I'm pretty much a full time mother these days and working part time I don't really have much leisure time. However, one luxury I do have is that every Friday and Monday the Toddler goes to stay with my mother so I can work or have time to rest or, in this case, go spend the night in Newcastle.

I originally went to see the Bill Henson exhibition at the Newcastle Gallery of Art but instead ended up staying and becoming enthralled in the Brett Whiteley exhibition instead. Amazing. Life changing in fact. I think most of us know of Whiteley, his art and controversies, but I'd never really seen much of his work in person and all I can say is, wow. I was completely taken aback. By the detail, by the humour, by the perspective he had and managed to translate so eloquently. These are pieces I will remember and cherish for the rest of my life.

After a straightforward, non-delayed flight (yay!) on Jetstar I took a shuttle bus straight to the Crowne Plaza to check-in. I decided if I was going to stay somewhere it had to have a great view so harbour room it was along with a spa and a balcony.

Left side view

Right side view

 It was the middle of the afternoon and after a stressful week I decided to just kick back, chill and enjoy the perfect weather. Sun shining, not a cloud in sight and a beautiful 30 degrees with a breeze. I slipped into a one piece and headed straight for the gorgeous (clean) pool that I got all to myself.

Getting time to read! Now that in itself is a luxury.

After a swim, a read and relaxing in the late afternoon sun I went up to my room and enjoyed the view over a dinner of, er, Subway. Yeah, there was a slight hitch in my plans ... I forgot to bring my credit card and because there were no proper supermarkets in walking distance I decided to head across the road and get a footlong sub. Then I raided the mini bar, naturally.

View of the boats in the harbour at night

After a long soak in the spa I went to be early so I could be out by 9am and go have breakfast on Darby St in Cooks Hill.

Coffee (fantastic) and fresh juice for breakfast

Newcastle being a relatively small industrial city didn't really have much to hold my interest. But I did like its mix of industrial meets arty. Surfy, laidback and blue collar meets cultural sophistication. All I really knew of Newcastle was that that's where Silverchair were from (who I was obsessed with for a certain period of my adolescence) and the rape and murder of Leigh Leigh took place - having studied Blackrock in high school.

I thought the Whiteley exhibition was perfection. But I was very disappointed by the Bill Henson exhibition. Mainly because I didn't feel like it was the right space. You could tell they had tried to darken the interior by having the photographs on black walls, but it wasn't enough. The reflection kept bouncing off the glass and disturbing the photographs. It was a real effort to see them and take them all in. The only other time I have seen Henson's work in the flesh was at the NGV where the exhibition space was much darker and in the lobby of The Westin in Melbourne where they have a piece from his Opera series. It was kind of disappointing that something like the space not being dark enough ruined the effect of the works.

 

On the way back to the Crowne Plaza I discovered (and I say discovered because I didn't know it existed and had no intention of visiting it) one of the coolest "toy shops" I've ever seen or been in. In the middle of a grungey main street is Frontline Hobbies which is huge and has just about EVERY cool toy you can imagine. 

Just a small sample of their Schleich figurines!

 

Some thoughts: I am most definitely going to visit the Brett Whiteley studio (in Surry Hills) next time i'm in Sydney. If you ever need to stay in Newcastle the Crowne Plaza is where it's at as far as views are concerned. There's a lot to look at, see and do in Newcastle so I will definitely be coming back (we also have family near Port Stephens.)

Although maybe not a conventional destination for rest and relaxation it was exactly what I needed. My next trip will be a 24 hour visit to Brisbane to see the California Design and Cai Gua-Quiang exhibitions on February 9th.

Entertaining the toddler in Sydney

Our Sydney trip is coming to an end on Sunday (thank GOD!) So I thought I'd plan a day jam packed with toddler friendly Sydney stuff to do that wouldn't send me bonkers. Minus a quick skip over to the State Library of NSW to see the Rennie Ellis "Kings Cross" exhibition for me during the  Toddler's nap time that is.

Confession time? I haven't actually been to a museum since Melbourne had a Museum station. Isn't that shameful? I honestly don't think i've stepped into one since primary school. So I was keen to take the Toddler to Sydney Museum's Tyrannosaurs exhibition as she is obsessed with dinosaurs at the moment and I thought I could also spark an interest in other things such as the skeleton room or the birds and insects room. But no, she found these all too scary. Unlike, you know, the actual supposedly scary T-Rex which she loved. Sigh.

She insists on sitting on the backseat of the bus now. Despite us having to leave the stroller in the disability/pram section. Though she thinks going on the bus is an attraction in itself.

The exhibition, while fantastic for older kids, was somewhat lost on her. All she was interested in doing was racing through the venue until she found the biggest pile of bones they had and scaring herself silly.

Not for the faint of heart.

Credit to Sydney Museum they had an amazing kids activity area that kept her interest for over an hour with lots of things to look at and explore. Puzzles, animals, books, dress ups, figurines, crafts, and so on. And all for free.


After this she passed out long enough for me to sneak into the State Library of NSW. Then it was onto the Botanical Gardens where I ordered myself an extra strong coffee and waited for her to wake up knowing her first and only request would be for "chippies ... and sauce."


Even though it was supposedly only 27 degrees today if felt a lot hotter walking around in the bright sun.

$4.50 for a SPLICE?!?!?! Surely that must have been a mistake, but I wasn't in the mood to challenge it.

I did promise her there'd be a Choo Choo Train in the Botanical Gardens. She couldn't wrap her head around why the hell we were wasting our time in a big bloody park with no play equipment but many "tiny forests" as she called them. So, taking one for the team, I gave up my thorough walk through the gardens and instead hopped aboard this contraption:

Unfortunately it didn't make being there any more interesting. Big deal, she must have thought, more plants, more trees, whoop di whoop.

First ever "farm" in Australia.

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Me if I was a tree. Bloated and retaining water.

Obligatory tourist shot. "The big bridge" she was not impressed by.

Everyone, including the Toddler, was obsessed with the capsized boat in front of us and the diver that had to keep diving under.

To cap off the day we ended up at the nice enclosed playground at Maroubra Beach where she learned to scale the rope ladder, slide down the pole much to my horror, and jump off the "sunken ship" after seeing an older boy do it. Eeep. She's growing up before my eyes!

No more excuses

Today marked the end of eating badly with a delicious high tea at The Tea Salon: a cute little white picket fence sectioned off retreat in the midst of designer heaven Level 4 at Westfield in the city. We were able to choose between tea and coffee and were given the choice of flavoured scone (I went with lavender, Marlo with rose) and I ordered the children's lunch for the Toddler.

(Note: do not bother ordering the children's lunch, the serving sizes were paltry, the high tea alone is enough for 1 adult and a hungry little mite.)

Knowing it was my last exciting calorific splurge for a while I concentrated more on actually eating it than photographing it but it was super pretty as one would expect. Whoops!

As i've mentioned Christmas and Boxing Day/Holiday eating has messed with my body big time and watching Rousey vs Tate was a big wake up call.

There's a bloated tummy hiding under there

With UFC 170 Rousey vs McMann announced it's given me the inspiration and deadline I need to go from a body like above to something more leaned out, toned and ripped in the right areas.