Nobby’s Beach salt water baths.

There is nothing quite like a big family wedding. We so easily loose touch with the extended family when living in another state so it was great to take the opportunity to have a few days together around the big celebration.

There is not a lot to do in the Hunter for a non drinker. They are brilliantly set up to take maximum advantage of the Sydney wedding, party, and wine lover market which, we were told, accounts for most of the business for the region. Understandably however my non drinking wife can handle just so many wine tastings before loosing the plot so we found a few other things to do.

One of which was a visit to Newcastle, a town we have spent very little time in. Highly recommended was Fort Scratchly and a tour of the tunnels. Dating back to 1882 the fort has an amazing history including being the only Australian land based defence unit to fire on the enemy. This occurred in 1942 with the shelling of a Japanese submarine that was firing on the harbour.

Before our tour we had to wait for the 120 school kids to leave so had lunch at the famous Nobby’s Beach surf club which was excellent. Then a walk to the sea baths on a glorious and warm June day.

Nobby’s Beach and lighthouse.

The tour of the fort was great and well worth the $25. The staff are a lot of fun and very passionate about the history. Really worth a visit.

A “Disappearing” 6″ Gun.

Now for the main event, the wedding of Sarah and Nathan. Held at Peppers it was a fabulous affair and a lot of fun. It is a beautiful venue for weddings and they do a great job.

The classy couple.

The Family, or a fair representation. You can see we had a lot of catching up to do. A great time was had by all.

Back to Canberra on Sunday to dump the wedding gear and grab the Spain bags. Easy train trip to Sydney and comfortable night in the Travelodge. A final pack in the morning before flying out at 2.30. On this trip we are attempting to nullify the jet lag by having a night in Bangkok and another in Istanbul before arriving in Prague. Will let you know if it works. Till then…..

David & Collette