Mammals, Mustangs & Markets - A brief trip to Port

One of the advantages of being a 24/7 shift worker is how you can manipulate the system to suit your weekend activities. The other weekend was a prime example of using the system to my advantage, I finished work at 7am Friday and didn't have to be back at work 9.30pm Monday, virtually a long weekend! The lack of sleep and the longer term impacts of constant night shifts will be something for my doctors and my psychologists to deal with in the future .... I had 3 days off in beautiful Port Macquarie!


Unfortunately, one thing that I wasn't able to manipulate was the weather, with an intense low pressure system bringing gales force winds of up to 90kp/h and keeping maximum daytime temperatures down to a chilly 18° along the coast (the low even bought snow to the Central West!).


Now the reason I was in Port, my wife was required  to attend the Campervan & Motorhome Club of Australia (www,cmca.com.au) 25th National Rally for work and I decided to tag along for the weekend. The rally itself was a huge event, with over 1,000 vehicles, of all shapes, sizes, combinations & condition, from the very new $500k rigs, down to the home built backyard jobs. However, the weather was windy and cold, so while we made a full day of it, I left my camera tucked away.


On the Sunday the weather cleared to an almost perfect Spring day and after losing Saturday, I was not going to let this opportunity pass by, so when we went out I made sure the battery in the the Canon 400D was fully charged.


Our first stop was the Ford Mustang 'Show & Shine' at Settlement Point, where every type of those iconic Pony cars from 60's, were on display, with their heavy use of chrome and V8 engines, it was a petrol heads paradise.   


After we had poked around the displays we decided to continue our early morning walk around to the marina and as it happened there were some quite good deals on whale watch tours, $25 per person! Now I've seen the whales, but it has always been from land, now this was the perfect opportunity to face these huge mammals of the sea on their own turf , so to speak!

It is really a spectacular sight to see these wonderful creatures up so close and luckily I had the Canon with the 300mm lens to take advantage of their frolics.


After watching the whales play, it was time to head home and so instead of heading out to the Pacific Hwy to race back home, we chose the more leisurely coast road that winds it way from Port Macquarie to Laurieton, taking in beautiful hideaway spots such us Bonny Hills, Lake Cathie and North Haven. We were even lucky enough to have lunch at the monthly Laurieton markets and wander around the stalls of local produce and  bric-à-brac on display. 


Sometimes it's best not to have a plan, only to 'Laugh More, Live Longer' the motto used by  CMCA members and travel around our beautiful country and take advantage of the quieter coastal retreats ....plus you can always drive to some better weather!  
     

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Fairground Attraction

One of the big events in Newcastle (NSW) is the Annual Newcastle Regional Show, an event that each year keeps on growing and gives support to the local rural industries and farmers from around the region. Also, much to the dismay of the local Newcastle Chamber of Commerce, the Friday is gazetted as a public holiday for residents within the Newcastle LGA (this was originally done so schools could organise excursions to the show and show city kids where our produce comes from). 

The show has been icon on the local calendar since 1902 (although the first  Newcastle and District Agricultural Horticultural and Industrial Association was formed in 1899) and except during 1916 (WW1, used as a Military Camp), 1919 (influenza) and 1941 - 45 (WW2 Staging Area), the show has been delighting Novacastrians with all the colour and excitement that a regional show can bring.  

This year the Newcastle Regional Show was once again a tremendous place to spend a day and enjoy the unique atmosphere. In fact I actually spent two days at the show, one day with the grand - daughter and the next with my wife (so we could visit all the boring exhibits, lol). The weather was perfect, the grounds were immaculate and the place had a real vibe, a real sense of community, something you don't seem to find in the bigger capital city Agricultural Shows.

Once again, for convenience, I armed myself with the go anywhere Sanyo 1275S camera and tried to capture some of the colour and excitement. It wasn't a hard task. In the main ring there was jousting, stunt motor bikes, the V6 Hi-Lux Heroes stunt drivers, there was cattle judging, the strength of the woodchoppers on display, the excitement of Sideshow Alley (with the spruiking call of the carnies), in the Hall of Industries there were displays of handicraft, cakes, paintings, wrestling demonstration, model train displays and of course the ubiquitous showbag concession stands, with their overpriced, tacky, tooth decay inducing offerings, which of course I had to buy! 

You could, if you so desired, have a Chinese massage or even get your future told in an area I called Shonky Alley and  this year, there was something that I had never seen before, dancing dogs, believe me a tacky, surreal, experience not to be missed! 

I really do hope that the Newcastle Regional Show continues to operate in its current format and continues to provide an important link between our rural and city communities.

See you again in 2011