It was an interesting day in New South Wales as we took a coastal walk in Newcastle before heading back to Sydney to celebrate my birthday.

We awoke with a slight hangover after yesterday’s Hunter Valley wine tour. After spending two nights in Newcastle we firstly wanted to have a coastal walk before heading back to Sydney.

Bar Beach, Newcastle NSW

We started our coastal walk at Bar Beach. This suburb and beach takes its name from a natural rock pool at the beach.

The northern part of this beach is named Susan Gilmore Beach. This is after an American clipper boat of the same name that wrecked here in 1884.

The scenery along the walk was sensational and there were a number of kiosks to buy refreshments from too.

Merewether Beach, Newcastle NSW

After walking over a small hill, we arrived in Newcastle’s suburb of Merewether.

Merewether is famous for having some of Newcastle’s most famous beaches including Dixon Park Beach and Merewether Beach. As it was a nice day there were hundreds of surfers and swimmers packing the waters.

We walked to the southern end of Merewether Beach to have a late breakfast near the Merewether Ocean Baths. These are the largest ocean baths in the Southern Hemisphere.

After consuming breakfast we retraced our steps along the coastal path and back to the car.

Driving back to Sydney and over the Anzac Bridge

The journey back to Sydney took about two hours along the M1 Pacific Motorway.

On the way back to our accommodation we drove over one of Sydney’s other famous bridges – The Anzac Bridge.

The bridge was built in 1995 and was originally called the Glebe Island Bridge. The name changed in 1998 in memory of the Anzacs who served in World War I. There is an Australian flag on display on one pylon and a New Zealand flag on another pylon.

In addition, there are two statues on the bridge of an Australian and New Zealand soldier.

Birthday meal at Thai Pothong

After a few beers at our residence, we got an Uber into Sydney for my birthday meal. Our restaurant of choice was Thai Pothong restaurant in Newtown.

This restaurant famous for its delicious Thai food and also for the huge models of Transformers on display.

The lamb curry I ordered was amazing and was topped off by complimentary cake as the staff sung happy birthday to me. This was superb, especially as the staff sang my name as ‘garlic’.

South Wales Derby in New South Wales

After our food we made our way to one of Sydney’s most popular haunts – Cheers Bar. As some readers will know, we are big supporters of Swansea City FC.

With the Swans were due to play Cardiff in the South Wales Derby back in the UK, Cheers Bar were showing the game.

It was here that we met some friendly members of ‘Swansea City Down Under’ to watch the game with. As well as some other Swans fans who were on holiday in Sydney.

The game was pretty uneventful and finished in a 0-0 draw. But it was great to have a few beers with Swans fans on the other side of the world.

Tomorrow we will be leaving Sydney for a few days to spend some time with our family in the Central Coast. It will definitely be an interesting few days.

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