THE GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATTOO

No, I did not get a tattoo. However, last night Scott, Juliet and I went to the movie in Newcastle to see Stieg Larsson's The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. I read the book and absolutely loved it so I was very excited to see the movie. The movie was produced in Sweden (the author, a liberal journalist, died after delivering to his Swedish publisher the three novels that are the Millennium Trilogy). If you like mysteries and haven't read the Trilogy series, I highly recommend them. The second book is called The Girl Who Played with Fire and the third book (which I am reading now) is The Girl Who Kicked the Hornets" Nest.

We were surprised after the movie started that the actors were speaking Swedish and the English was subtitled at the bottom of the screen. It was a three-hour movie but it did not seem like three hours at all and it wasn't very long into the movie and you forgot you were reading the sub-titles. The movie stayed very true to the book I am happy to say and we all enjoyed it.

The movie theater housed three cinema screens and I was surprised that I had to climb so many steps to actually get to the theater seating - like three levels! Movie tickets are expensive here - they were $15.50 per adult. The concession stand was very small. Popcorn was available (we paid about $5.00 for a small bag) and they had some candy in bags hanging on the wall (I did see M&Ms, both plain and peanut).

It has been raining here since Sunday and I am really tired of the rain. It certainly hampers my sightseeing. I will leave you with one picture of The Girl With the Pink Hat taken in front of my favorite mailboxes in Sydney.

BATS IN THE BELFRY (NEWCASTLE)

Tuesday, March 23, Betty, Melanie and I drove into Newcastle to visit Christ Church Cathedral. Lieutenant Shortland first discovered the district of Newcastle (originally named Coal River) in 1797. As its original name suggests, a large amount of coal was found in the area, which made it a very valuable piece of land. The area was more fully explored by Colonel Paterson in 1801.

Before any chaplain was appointed to minister to the area, a small church built of slabs was erected in 1812. This building, however, was pulled down in 1816 and a more stable church was designed. In August 1818, Governor Macquarie named the little convict built church Christ Church.

The Baptistry

The Baptistry immediately meets the eye of the visitor. It is elevated above the floor and the marble floor was installed in 1902 as a gift from the Women's Guild. The canopy is English Oak carved in the medieval tradition.

The Nave

The Nave Altar is used during normal services and allows the congregation to be more closely involved with the liturgy. The beautiful cedar pulpit was given to Christ Church in 1884 and designed by Frederick Menkens, the well known German-born Newcastle architect.

The Cathedra or Bishop's Throne

The Cathedra, from which the building takes its name, is again made of English Oak and is heavily carved.




The Organ










Christ Church Cathedral's organ is one of the finest of its kind in Australia. The first records of music at Christ Church Cathedral date from 1835, when a barrel and finger organ was in use at the Cathedral.
The Windows







Of the 72 stained glass windows in the cathedral, most are by Kempe & Co of London.

161 Steps There are 161 steps from the ground floor up to the roof. You first go up a few steps, then unlock the first door. There you climb up a narrow hallway of stone steps until you reach a platform that houses the huge bells that chime every hour. There is a circular stairway that then takes you up to the roof. After unlocking the door, you then enter the roof where you have a wonderful view of Newcastle. This was a very scary climb, my knees were knocking by the time I arrived at the top and I was hanging on for dear life. I had to keep telling myself - "you can do this". And of course, once you reach the top, you have to climb back down which actually was easier than going up.

Views from the Roof

JUDY'S DAY ADVENTURE IN NEWCASTLE

On Tuesday, March 9th, I decided to venture out and take the City Rail to Newcastle and spend the day exploring. I walked around the area of the Newcastle train station, visited shops at the Hunter Street Mall, stopped for a late breakfast, walked over to the beach and then to the Harbour area. After all that walking, I was tired and thirsty so I stopped in at the Brewery and drank a coke while I played some pokies! When I came outside, it was raining so I caught the City Rail home to Cardiff.

Newcastle is a modern city, north of Sydney, featuring a working harbour, a picturesque coastline, and a blend of old and new architecture which you can see in the pictures below. On December 28, 1989, the City of Newcastle was devastated by a 5.6 Richter magnitude earthquake. The earthquake claimed 13 lives and left a damage bill estimated at $4 billion.

Newcastle buildings - new and old

The Beach at Newcastle

The Harbour

LAZY SATURDAY AT THE BEACH

On Saturday, March 27th, we decided to go to the beach for the day. Juliet and Scott packed up the car and we drove to Port Stephens to spend the day at Stockton Beach. Stockton Beach is 20 miles long which makes it very popular with 4-wheel drive enthusiasts and the area has long been the playground of dune buggies and motorcross bikes.

The wind blown sand dunes of Stockton Beach comprise the largest continuous mobile sand mass in New South Wales. The yellow grains have been washed in from the sea and blown ashore to form dunes up to 30 meters high. Most of the sand was deposited about 6,000 years ago. The lee side of the dune is steep and loosely packed, making a perfect surface for sliding down on a sheet of cardboard or something more elaborate. Scott drove up one large sand dune so I could say I've been sand dunning!

Scott and Juliet enjoyed swimming and boogie boarding in the waves and I enjoyed walking on the beach and reading my book.

SYDNEY (Part 5)

On Sunday, March 21, it was time to check out of the hotel and think about going home. We decided to take a short 3-hour side trip to Manly Beach. Manly sits on a beautiful peninsula surrounded on three sides by the Pacific Ocean and Sydney Harbour.

Manly was so named after the confidence and "manly behaviour" displayed by a group of local Aboriginals spied in Manly Cove by Australia's first governor, Captain Arthur Phillip in 1788.

We walked along the beach enjoying the surfers and young people playing beach volleyball.

Then we walked through town trying to find the 4 Pines Brewing Company where we stopped for some liquid refreshment.

Along the way, we saw a unique scarecrow in a very small garden and I had to take a picture of it especially for my farmville friends!
Stopping for ice cream, we found a place that sold Movenpick ice cream which is a Swiss ice cream. They had rhubarb ice cream which I have never seen in my life and it was absolutely delicious. I want more!!!! Unfortunately, Movenpick ice cream is not sold in the states.

An excellent ending to a wonderful weekend!