Muscle & Muscle

On a day when religious people observe the Resurrection of Jesus Christ and chocoholics are indulging in their annual chocolate orgy, some of us in Newcastle celebrate Easter Sunday in a display of pure grunt and muscle power.


Not just any muscle, but with the toughest of them all ... the Ford Mustang, a car that celebrates big block normally aspirated  V8 engines, wide rubber, tons of chrome, 4 speed 'top loader' manual transmissions and a car the fuelled the dreams of every boy growing up in the 60's and 70's.


Newcastle was lucky enough to host the 2012 Mustang National over the Easter, with over 300 of these iconic American muscle cars from the Mustang Owners Club Association of NSW on display, including a 1982 SSP Mustang, a Mustang Ute and every kind of Mustang in between.


Out of all the Mustangs on display my favourites were the beautiful 1969 Shelby 350 GT, the last of  iconic Carroll Shelby produced Mustangs and the awesome 'Big Red', a 1967 Shelby GT 500 with the massive 428ci (7 Litre) engine to make this beast the mother of all Mustangs!    

But there was not just motoring muscle on display in Newcastle on Easter Sunday ... playing at the nearby Ausgrid Stadium was the Round 6 clash of the National Rugby League competition, where human muscle was on display. The local team, the Newcastle Knights were playing the Parramatta Eels in a dour struggle. After 80mins of hard slog in warm autumn sunshine the Newcastle Knights were eventually victorious 14 - 6 and kept themselves in the hunt for the finals come September. 


So even if you can't play Rugby League, or don't own a Mustang, you can still come to Newcastle and pursue some other leisurely such as whale watching, wine tasting or just soaking up the sun on some of  Australia's best beaches .... beats sitting at home sucking eggs!