The drive down to Newcastle was fairly uneventful. We stopped in Port Macquarie to enjoy some lunch by the water but with the wind blowing a gale we only stayed long enough to finish our lunch and let the kids have a quick play in a local playground before heading back to the car. We reached the outskirts of Newcastle a bit after 4pm and got our first taste of peak hour traffic after months on the open road. It was a not so gentle reminder that we would soon be back into the traffic chaos of Sydney. We headed south to the outer suburb of Dudley to spend the night with one of my mates from school and his family. We arrived a bit before 5pm and quickly got the kids out of the car and changed into their costumes. Being Halloween, and Em’s birthday, we were keen to head out trick or treating with their kids. We wandered the street without much luck initially, and were concerned that the kids might end up back at the house with a very little bounty from their spooky escapades. Fortunately we stumbled upon a few more plentiful streets and before long the kids bags were bulging with the sweet goodness they so desired. With happy kids we headed back to my mate’s place where the kids tipped out their loot and compared their hauls. It was lovely to see all the kids getting on so well. We enjoyed a great BBQ for dinner that night and after putting the kids to bed, had a great night catching up over a few wines before eventually also putting our heads on our pillows.
The next morning we had a bit of a lazy morning before packing things back into the trailer and heading off on what would be our shortest day so far on the trip. With only 12km to drive, Oli in particular couldn’t believe how short the drive would be after experiencing the more usual 300-400km days of the last few months. We stopped at a beachfront cafe in Merewether on the way, to enjoy brunch by the beach, and although the beach was closed and the wind was up, we found a sheltered table in the sun where we could watch the massive swells roll in while enjoying great food and coffees. We then headed to a good mate of ours where we would spend the next two nights catching up. Again our kids and theirs got on really well, and they spent the first afternoon making drawings to sell to each other while we chatted downstairs. After we fed the kids and got them to bed, we had a lovely catch up with delicious food and wine.
The next day we just hung out, taking full advantage of a house with fun new things to play with. The kids couldn’t wait for their new mates to return from school that afternoon and soon got back into more play, with the boys playing ball outside while the girls created their own, fully choreographed dance routine which they performed for us all before dinner that night. All feeling pretty tired, it was early to bed for both the kids and the adults. It was a very strange feeling knowing that tomorrow would be the last day of this epic adventure.
We got up early the next morning as we had to be out of the house by 8am, so we packed things back into the trailer and drove back down to the beach to enjoy a final coffee and food on the steps looking down over the beach. The waves were still huge, but much cleaner today, with a strong offshore breeze creating a spray of ‘rain’ over the back of each wave as its peak rose up, ready to crash down onto the water below it. We sat for a while watching the surfers and paddle boarders catch waves before finally heading back to the car, knowing that this would be the last stretch of our trip. The kids were super excited but Kat and I were not quite so sure about our return to Sydney and what it would bring. We wound our way out of Newcastle and turned onto the M1, headed for Sydney.
Wide open spaces 