I did manage to drag myself out of bed but naturally my bus was late. I could have stayed in bed for another hour if I'd known! I got to Newcastle at about 10:30, got checked in and then went for a wander. I only got as far at the beach, about 100m from my hostel, because there was an "Iron-Man" triathlon competition taking place. I have only ever heard of the main tirathlon but over here there is a league and the athletes tour the country competing for points. I spent the rest of the morning and the beginning of the afternoon sitting on the beach and watching. I did eventually leave to have a look around Newcastle properly.

It seems like a nice place with some really cool old bulidings but there are a lot of very steep hills. It actually reminded me a lot of the town where the film "The Goonies" was set (I understand that's a reference that not everyone will get so I recommend the film to you. It's an 80s classic!). I managed to have a look around for about an hour before it started to rain again. I used that as an excuse to go back to my room and have a sleep after my early start. My evening was just as relaxing. I spent it watching films with everyone form my hostel.

My second day in Newcastle started gloomy but the rain did hold off. I spent most of my time walking around just to see what I could find. And the answer: not a lot! It's a nice town but not really a huge amount to do here. The rest of my day was spent planning what I would do when I got to Sydney. In contrast to Newcastle, Sydney has enough to keep me busy for weeks or even months.

My last full day in Newcastle was a lot more eventful. I got picked up form my hostel and, with about ten others, went to the Hunter Valley for a day of wine tasting. I figured it would be a good idea because I have just started drinking wine (thanks to Kathryn) so I should try and learn a bit about it. We visited six different cellars and sampled many different wines as well as a few other things. I tried red, white, rose and sparkeling. I also tried a few fortified wines and some spirits including white chocolate, butterscotch and chilli. As well as fudges, olive oils, olives and me and two of the lads sampled a chilli sauce that's rated 10/10 on the heat scale. It actually wasn't too bad. My eyes stopped watering after about 10 mintues and I regained normal feeling in my mouth after around 20 mintues. All that from one taste!

I had a really good day and enjoyed myself however I didn't get out of it what I wanted. Because I sampled about 30 different wine I lost track of what I liked and what I didn't. Oh well, guess I can always do it again in New Zealand. How will I manage?!

That evening a group of us from the tour went to one of the local pubs for a meal and to take part in possibly the most over-complicated pub quiz in the history of everything, ever! Over 80 questions, two drinks breaks and bonus rounds. We all struggled through and between nine of us we managed to come second. Not bad for a bunch of half-cut backpackers. Again, I'm out the night before I have to sit on a coach for hours the next day. Why do I do it to myself?

Tomorrow I move on to Sydney and I can't wait.