9 March, 2011 - Belmont Bayview Park, Belmont, NSW

A warm evening sitting in a very nice caravan park just a block back from the shore of Lake Macquarie, one of the largest coastal salt water lakes in the southern hemisphere. We wandered out to the shore before dinner, to view the small fish swimming under the jetties and the light falling on to the landscape. It was all quite wonderful, so much so that we booked for a second night on our return to camp.

I must confess that the measuring stick for caravan parks has much to do with money or rather value for money. For instance we are paying $20 per night for a powered site here. The park offers a swimming pool, a substantial communal lounge area with separate television and video game rooms, outdoor BBQ’s, a kitchen area, a laundry and clean bathroom amenities where there is soap and hand dryers and freshly painted walls. There are many permanent residents here, however their sites are all very tidy and not-in-your-face.

The last couple of day’s Coach Stop cost us $25 per night for a powered site, the laundry facilities were antiquated and only partly useable. The bathroom facilities were poor, half the toilet doors did not close securely, the basins were stained with age, there was no soap, no hand dryers or paper towels and apparently the men’s toilets were filthy. There was a small children’s playground as there were children playing on the park roads with their trikes. I have already mentioned the run down residents’ abodes; caravans with pieces falling off and broken windows.

And so you can see that this camp here rates very well, and the other very poorly.

We left Maitland this morning promptly after breakfast and made our way to the shopping centre at Green Hills which we had visited two days before. I found a Just Cuts salon and came away feeling like a new person, even if a bit shorn.

Just Cuts are a franchised business that you find in most of the shopping centres we have been to. They advertise “a cut and style” for $27 which sounds quite fair. However when you get there, you give your name and are placed in a queue given an approximate time of when your name will come up. You are also asked if you have washed your hair in the last twenty four hours. This being the first time, I was not savvy enough to tell a white lie. In fact it has been my experience in New Zealand that hairdressers find it easier to cut hair that is not too freshly washed and fly-away.  I said that it had been longer than twenty four hours whereupon I was told that they could therefore not guarantee the quality of the cut. I said that didn’t matter, but they were not satisfied with that, they would not cut hair that had not been washed, so they would wash my hair, and that would be an extra $6, and would I also want my hair dried ? That would be a further $6. 

Chris said, “Oh, for goodness sake! What a rip off! Come on!”

The girl then tried to convince me that it would be so relaxing and lovely to have my hair washed by them. I agreed but said that I could not waste money on frivolous actions and so she said that since it was my first time, she would waive the $6. I was caught. Anyway after all that, I came away with a half decent cut, for $27, hair still wet, and the knowledge that next time I try out Just Cuts I will have freshly washed hair or lie about the time lapse.

All part of the living and learning the ways of modern Australia.

From there we drove the forty or so kilometres to Newcastle. This city started its life as a convict settlement, then as its namesake in England, grew into an industrial city, a very important port for both imports and exports, especially as the point of coal export. Most of the road into the city follows the Hunter River, and the last fifteen kilometres is through heavy industry; not at all attractive. We headed for the Information Centre, the signs leading us through the streets of the old part of the city. Again it was not a pretty site. We eventually found a park and found our way to the Centre. From there, having paid for more than an hour of parking, we took advantage of the promenade along the river. In the early 1990s the powers that be decided it was time to attempt a beautification programme of the riverside. And it has been most successful. Apartment, hotels and restaurants line the river shore tucked back behind wide pedestrian access. While the more distant views cannot hide the industrial aspect of the city, this area has become very attractive. The city is not a tourist destination, and yet if one finds oneself there for another reason, there is at least this to lift one’s spirits.

We had merely detoured to Newcastle because our destination was too close to miss the opportunity of calling, however the city is not one that invites vehicles pulling caravans. We were almost relieved to take the Pacific Highway and head south to the Lotus dealer at North Belmont. Five Star Caravans are the dealers for Lotus in this part of the country, and when we explained our various problems with the caravan (the water pipes still vibrating madly when the pump is turned on, a cupboard catch being as good as useless, a leak in the air conditioner) their fix-it man, Grant, grabbed his ladder and tools and attended to each matter without delay. The service was fantastic. We made sure that they had all the relevant details so they in turn could bill Lotus in Melbourne as all these matters fell under warranty, and then headed off to the Dometic dealer about the awning. Sadly our trip back northwards to Argenton, a suburb of Cardiff, was a wasted one; the Dometic dealer was primarily a refrigeration service businesss, and while they were willing to arrange the repair, it could take many weeks.

On a positive note however, our drive to these people had shown us how beautiful this Lake Macquarie is, and so we decided to retrace our route and stay with Plan A, staying at Belmont.