Josh and sweet Oz (Stacey and Josh's dog) came to pick us up and introduce us to Newcastle. Here is Daddy Dearest driving for the first time. He and I both would turn on the windshield wipers when attempting to turn. It was pretty funny!!! Not only is the driver on the opposite side of the car but they turn signal is on the opposite side of the steering wheel too! We didn't drive much thanks to Josh and Stacey! We probably would have taken a few people out if we had driven a lot.
Here we are after a quick "kip" (nap) as they call it. This is Daddy Dearest, Mansfield and Josh. They were showing us around Newcastle. Isn't it just GORGEOUS!!!! They were checking out the waves before deciding to take a "paddle" (go surfing).
They suited up and were out there! DD had been talking about doing this for a LONG time! Now He was getting his chance. He grabbed his "Surf Betty" board that Josh and Stacey let him use and He was off! 
Mansfield was giving him a crash course before taking him out...
And here He is...He got the hang of it pretty fast! I was very impressed with him! The waves may not seem big to you or to people that see them every day but they were big! It seemed like half the battle was getting past the breaking waves in order to CATCH one. I am pretty sure DD thought the same thing. What do you think?...
After a quick rest, he was ready (and quite determined I might add) to get back out there and try, try again.
Here are the Three Stooges after their time on the waves...DD was SO funny with that board! It was smart to walk this far behind to ensure that I wouldn't get hit with this long board! He was bumping into things right and left!
Later that night we were introduced to the Meat Raffle at a local yard bowling club. Here is how it works... Just like any other raffle you buy a ticket that has your numbers on it. They draw numbers in order to give HUGE meat trays away. You can see it in the back ground of this picture. You walk up there (if your number is chosen) and pick out which meat tray you want. As you can tell we are some of the youngest people there...
AND...we had two winners in our midst! Mansfield won! Here he is choosing the meat tray he wants...
AND Josh won!!! You have to chose wisely though...
We had a great time at the "bowlo"! Stacey got stuck for a very long time in traffic but once she got there we began betting on (horse and greyhound) races. I actually won $10 I think! Yea!!! Stacey and I decided it was time to get AWAY from the Elevator music/Entertainment that was there so we went home and eventually to bed. The boys on the other hand....Well...they stayed a bit longer at the bowlo and then came back home and cooked some of the meat they had won and had fun on the "Human graffiti board" (as Amanda called it) a.k.a....DD! I thought DD had gotten a tattoo the next morning when I saw it. It was ALL OVER him!!! Come to find out it was even on His face the night before but he washed it off.
The next morning we had a breakfast roll. It was bacon, egg and cheese with BBQ sauce on a roll or bun. It was SOOOO good!!!! After our delicious breakfast we were off to the beach for "sun baking" and surfing! It was GORGEOUS!!!!! I have never seen so much sand in my life and you can/have to drive your car out to the water. It was GREAT!!!!! Yet another first for me. You could drive over the dunes but you had to be extremely careful! It was hard to tell where one dune ended and the next began. The dunes would sometimes drop off like a cliff. We quickly learned that there IS in fact a universal language. It is one of FEAR. At one point DD was driving over these dunes. Josh was in the front seat and began saying "wooh, wooh, wooh!!!!" He knew better than we did that we could go rolling down a cliff if we weren't careful. After this "wooh, wooh, wooh" was spoken a second time (this time from Daddy Dearest) we joked about it the rest of the day! Who knew fear would invoke the speaking of the same language! It was beautiful though. That may sound weird, that sand dunes were beautiful but they were!
In the middle of our driving around on the dunes we came across Tin City...
After getting some sun I attempted to catch some waves. Mansfield gave me a few pointers and we were off...
The waves were a bit choppy or maybe they weren't. Maybe they were just bigger than I am used to and I couldn't get past them. Whatever the case, they just told me to lay on the board and they would push me off. That is what I did. I didn't get up on the board this time or when we were in Coolangatta (The Gold Coast) unfortunately. I only attempted two times.
Hindsight, I should have just rented a board one day and just kept trying. I did consider it while we were in Coolangatta but there were SOOOOO many surfers our there that I didn't even want to bother. No big deal. I will try it again another day.
The next morning we had a breakfast roll. It was bacon, egg and cheese with BBQ sauce on a roll or bun. It was SOOOO good!!!! After our delicious breakfast we were off to the beach for "sun baking" and surfing! It was GORGEOUS!!!!! I have never seen so much sand in my life and you can/have to drive your car out to the water. It was GREAT!!!!! Yet another first for me. You could drive over the dunes but you had to be extremely careful! It was hard to tell where one dune ended and the next began. The dunes would sometimes drop off like a cliff. We quickly learned that there IS in fact a universal language. It is one of FEAR. At one point DD was driving over these dunes. Josh was in the front seat and began saying "wooh, wooh, wooh!!!!" He knew better than we did that we could go rolling down a cliff if we weren't careful. After this "wooh, wooh, wooh" was spoken a second time (this time from Daddy Dearest) we joked about it the rest of the day! Who knew fear would invoke the speaking of the same language! It was beautiful though. That may sound weird, that sand dunes were beautiful but they were!
In the middle of our driving around on the dunes we came across Tin City...
After getting some sun I attempted to catch some waves. Mansfield gave me a few pointers and we were off...
The waves were a bit choppy or maybe they weren't. Maybe they were just bigger than I am used to and I couldn't get past them. Whatever the case, they just told me to lay on the board and they would push me off. That is what I did. I didn't get up on the board this time or when we were in Coolangatta (The Gold Coast) unfortunately. I only attempted two times. 
Hindsight, I should have just rented a board one day and just kept trying. I did consider it while we were in Coolangatta but there were SOOOOO many surfers our there that I didn't even want to bother. No big deal. I will try it again another day.After working up an appetite we decided to drive to the nearest Pie Shop for lunch. We had to stop and take a picture of this Jelly Fish before leaving. It was huge and DD said he had seen another that was bigger than this.
The meat pies were really good. It is a favorite in Australia. A meat pie is meat and gravy in a pie crust. Pretty self explanatory but just in case you didn't know there you have it.
We had an AMAZING Lamb roast that night for dinner! Thank you Josh for cooking that!!! We rested up for our vineyard tour the next day.
I had no idea Australia had such great wine! I certainly didn't know they had wine country so close to Newcastle! Here we are at our first stop! We would go in and taste several different kinds and either buy some or move on. I had never done anything like this before! I have always wanted to but never have had the opportunity. It was GREAT!!!! Especially for someone that likes wine!
As we were leaving the first vineyard we saw these kangaroos IN THE WILD. Now...I know that to most Australians this isn't a big deal and probably more of a pain in the rear more than exciting. BUT...to this small town girl it was on my list of things to see in Australia. TICK...
The meat pies were really good. It is a favorite in Australia. A meat pie is meat and gravy in a pie crust. Pretty self explanatory but just in case you didn't know there you have it. After our meat pies we drove around a bit and went to a Light House. It had an AMAZING view as you can see in the picture below...
We had an AMAZING Lamb roast that night for dinner! Thank you Josh for cooking that!!! We rested up for our vineyard tour the next day.I have to stop right here and tell you all that Josh and Stacey were un-believable at giving us suggestions of what to do in Sydney, planning a TON of great things to do in Newcastle,Gold Coast as well as in Sydney! It would have been a totally different trip had we not had the guidance that they provided and all the fun things to do that they got together! It MADE the trip for us! Thanks guys!!!!
Moving on to a fun vineyard tour that Stacey got together...Here is the crew that went...
Amanda (Stacey's friend, and SUPER sweet girl, really enjoyed her coming with us!), Stacey, Daddy Dearest and I, Gav and Josh! We piled into our limo and set off for the vineyards.
I had no idea Australia had such great wine! I certainly didn't know they had wine country so close to Newcastle! Here we are at our first stop! We would go in and taste several different kinds and either buy some or move on. I had never done anything like this before! I have always wanted to but never have had the opportunity. It was GREAT!!!! Especially for someone that likes wine!
As we were leaving the first vineyard we saw these kangaroos IN THE WILD. Now...I know that to most Australians this isn't a big deal and probably more of a pain in the rear more than exciting. BUT...to this small town girl it was on my list of things to see in Australia. TICK...They were out in the field eating away. Really neat to see this!
At the second vineyard we went to, Hunter Valley, there was a "Hall of Beer". I'm sure this is every man's dream. Here are the guys enjoying their Belgium beer. I have to say. I tasted some. It was REALLY good! Not like any beer I have ever had here in the States. It had a sweet taste to it.
Isn't this just GORGEOUS!!!?!!! I just couldn't get enough of the country side here. I never saw a bad view! This was taken from the Tyrrell's vineyard. It was a great vineyard too! REALLY good wine! And an even better view...
Our final vineyard stop was at Catherine Vale Vineyard. This vineyard is owned by Gav's (one of our friends) parents. They invited us to have lunch with them and then have a private wine tasting. I had THE BEST pesto pizza I have EVER had in my life. Gav's mom brought pizza out first, they also grilled chicken wings, steaks and chicken breasts. We had salad and macaroni and cheese. We were STUFFED. It was OH, SO GOOD!!!! Here we are before the food. The view from this table was just beautiful!!!!
Before the wine tasting we got to see the underground wine cellar that they have. It was really neat! Here we are with Gav.
Cheers...our private tasting was really neat. Like I said, I have never done anything like this before. We learned a lot about wine in general. And the wine...the best we had all day!!!!
Here is Gav's Mom telling us all about wine and the kind of wine that they make from the grapes they grow. VERY interesting stuff. Did you know that wine only has to have 85% of the kind of grape it is named after (Charddonay) and then 15% is whatever other kind of grape they want add. They don't have to call it a blend. They can just call it Charrdonay. That was interesting to me. We learned a lot.
Some more views from Catherine Vale vineyard...
Gav's parents REALLY took care of us while we were there! You can tell they work hard at what they do. The result is a GREAT wine!!!!
At the second vineyard we went to, Hunter Valley, there was a "Hall of Beer". I'm sure this is every man's dream. Here are the guys enjoying their Belgium beer. I have to say. I tasted some. It was REALLY good! Not like any beer I have ever had here in the States. It had a sweet taste to it. 
Isn't this just GORGEOUS!!!?!!! I just couldn't get enough of the country side here. I never saw a bad view! This was taken from the Tyrrell's vineyard. It was a great vineyard too! REALLY good wine! And an even better view...
Our final vineyard stop was at Catherine Vale Vineyard. This vineyard is owned by Gav's (one of our friends) parents. They invited us to have lunch with them and then have a private wine tasting. I had THE BEST pesto pizza I have EVER had in my life. Gav's mom brought pizza out first, they also grilled chicken wings, steaks and chicken breasts. We had salad and macaroni and cheese. We were STUFFED. It was OH, SO GOOD!!!! Here we are before the food. The view from this table was just beautiful!!!!
Before the wine tasting we got to see the underground wine cellar that they have. It was really neat! Here we are with Gav.
Cheers...our private tasting was really neat. Like I said, I have never done anything like this before. We learned a lot about wine in general. And the wine...the best we had all day!!!!
Here is Gav's Mom telling us all about wine and the kind of wine that they make from the grapes they grow. VERY interesting stuff. Did you know that wine only has to have 85% of the kind of grape it is named after (Charddonay) and then 15% is whatever other kind of grape they want add. They don't have to call it a blend. They can just call it Charrdonay. That was interesting to me. We learned a lot.
Some more views from Catherine Vale vineyard...
Gav's parents REALLY took care of us while we were there! You can tell they work hard at what they do. The result is a GREAT wine!!!!Our last stop before heading back to Josh & Stacey's house was at Harrigan's. It was a neat pub! There were quotes painted all over the walls and ceilings inside. It was a cool place. AND they had a blowup jump house that Collin and I decided to take advantage of. And yes, there were other kids in it too. : ) I haven't jumped in one of those in a LONG time! It was so fun!!!
When we got back and unloaded the Limo I saw this in the sky...It was a double rainbow! How fun!! Simple things amuse me, I know. But, it just isn't something you see every day.
When we got back and unloaded the Limo I saw this in the sky...It was a double rainbow! How fun!! Simple things amuse me, I know. But, it just isn't something you see every day.
We had a good time just sitting out on the front porch that evening. We were all so tired we ate and went to bed soon after. As I lay down I knew I would be packing AGAIN the next morning. At least I wouldn't end up with two coat hangers and a pillow case that didn't belong to me like I did from our hotel in Sydney. : ) Ooops! Guess that is what happens when you are packing at 12 a.m.. On to the Gold Coast...
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