Our last full day in the van and we are in Newcastle -we all love the city immediately despite it's industrial feel. As we drive in along the newly developed marina and waterfront area we spot Nobby's Head. Formally an island but joined to the mainland by a causeway in the 1800s and now home to a modern lighthouse station which is open occasionally to the public. Huge cargo ships are being pulled by several tugs out along the narrow channels and out to sea and we watch their progress and maneouvres as they start their journeys. We enjoy a walk along the sea wall out to the point together and then back along the beach and the surf and waves of Nobbys Beach. 
We drive around the bay to Newcastle Beach and the Bogey Hole. The first convict dug bathing spot in Australia - sadly it is all fenced off and we can only look down on it and wonder about the prisoners quarrying the stone and what hell they must have felt they had landed up in.
We drive up to a cafe and enjoy a wonderful drink and ice cream overlooking the main beach.
It is a really great afternoon which ends far too soon. We drive to our last free rest stop - 60km out of Sydney - and our last night in the van. Sadly the bbqs which we had hoped to use had been removed and so we have to cook our sausages and burgers in a frying pan instead. We are approached by a lady from the Bahamas who is travelling with her husband up to Cairns via Brisbane where they will pick up their 18 year old daughter who is in Australia for a year. It transpires that this is their first night in a campervan and they are grateful for our limited knowledge. We are happily pass on the boogie board, our Camps 6 bible and bits and bobs of food which we will be unable to use before we leave e.g. the spray oil which has been invaluable for using the free bbqs, kitchen roll and our last pasta, rice and mayonnaise. It is a really cold night, even David feels the drop in temperature and we find ourselves making hot drinks before bed.
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