It is sometimes easier as a tourist to see the highlights of your home town then for residents. This was brought home to me recently when I was discussing moving to Newcastle with a removalist customer. They were really enthusiastic about their upcoming move to our city and had done some great research into what could be found here and within a one hour drive of us. Things that I had taken for granted all my life this customer saw as interesting and exciting. Discussing what they wanted to do when they moved to Newcastle reignited my interest in local history, geography, cultural events and attractions that I have not visited in a long time.
We are really fortunate in Newcastle to have all the advantages of a big city with the heart of a country town. Newcastle has fantastic beaches, harbor, mountains, vineyards, temperate rainforest and so much else to explore. We have chefs with international experience and loads of eat streets to try out. I really look forward to this new adventure in my own backyard. I will be dragging the other Acrobats along on this adventure and getting their input and photos to share with you.
The internet has made the world a much smaller place and information is so much easier to find that there is no excuse for not exploring your own back yard. I plan to become a Newcastle tourist over the next few months and share my rediscovery with everyone on our blog. I challenge you to make a new discovery or rediscover and old one.
Sometimes it’s not the big things you find it’s the little ones that make you have an “Aha” moment. In my rediscovery of Newcastle I started with a walk through the east end above Newcastle beach. This is an old part of Newcastle with lots of semi-detached houses that look like something out of BBC’s Coronation Street. Lots of the old homes have been renovated in keeping with the historical period. I took a self-guided tour advertised on the web which took me past a historic convict lumber yard, customs house, the soldiers Baths and the military barracks. I learned lots about the birthplace of the hunter. I took the walk at a slow pace and stopped for lunch at the German Café in Newcastle Watt Street which stocks a good variety of imported beers.
Newcastle looks very different on foot and at a slower pace. I was spoilt for choice with places to eat and plan to try a few more over the coming weeks. I could do a food lovers walking guide to the inner city. I will need the walk to justify the incredible selection of food on offer. Happy walking Acrobat followers!
My next “Aha” moment was looking at the narrow buildings and realising how difficult it would be for Acrobat’s removalists to move furniture in and out of some of these houses. No lifts, narrow halls and stairs and small rooms. Gives me a whole new respect for the effort these boys put in to make moving home stress free for our customers.
