Day 37 - Lunch, Walk and Concert
After a late start we had lunch at the George Washington Hotel at Stockton. The view is good but the food was ordinary. The huge anchors in the nearby park were originally used to secure floating docks.
I stopped to buy the papers and saw notices encouraging people to wear red at 9am tomorrow as part of a protest along the seafront about the failure to properly address beach erosion.
The writer complained about the caravan park cabins being relocated to "crown land" without a development application. Given the urgency of the situation the council and park management seem to have done a great job preventing the cabins from falling into the ocean. The reserve where the bulk of the cabins are being held is more likely council land. It is a large reserve where dogs are allowed off leash and the cabins occupy a small area. The local community needs tourists, and tourists need accommodation, so hopefully this aspect of the protestt will fade away.
I went for an 8.5kms walk back along the beachfront. Large sand dunes run from Fern Bay for about 30kms. There is no easy access from the Stockton end, other than along the beach. Fort Wallace is an unoccupied defence facility that dates back to 1913 when gun emplacements were built to protect Newcastle Harbour. Approvals are being sought to build defence housing on this land.
Further along is the Stockton Centre which used to be a "mental hospital" but now provides care and accommodation for people with disabilities. The Stockton Bridge is opposite.
It was low tide exposing mangroves at this part of the river. Unfortunately some scumbags use the area to dump building waste. This striking plant is growing near these dinghies used to row out to moored boats.
This evening we went to a Kelly Brouhaha house concert. These concerts allow independent musicians to earn a reasonable fee performing at private homes. The number of guests was limited to 30 and there were strict instructions not to share details of the venue on social media. An added bonus at tonight's concert was Ron Mathews played his harmonica to support Kel in a couple of songs. Several Roadies enjoyed the concert together with friends of Janet who was our host. She had seen Kel perform at Tamworth and bravely offered the use of her home for the concert. Good on you Janet!
I stopped to buy the papers and saw notices encouraging people to wear red at 9am tomorrow as part of a protest along the seafront about the failure to properly address beach erosion.
The writer complained about the caravan park cabins being relocated to "crown land" without a development application. Given the urgency of the situation the council and park management seem to have done a great job preventing the cabins from falling into the ocean. The reserve where the bulk of the cabins are being held is more likely council land. It is a large reserve where dogs are allowed off leash and the cabins occupy a small area. The local community needs tourists, and tourists need accommodation, so hopefully this aspect of the protestt will fade away.
I went for an 8.5kms walk back along the beachfront. Large sand dunes run from Fern Bay for about 30kms. There is no easy access from the Stockton end, other than along the beach. Fort Wallace is an unoccupied defence facility that dates back to 1913 when gun emplacements were built to protect Newcastle Harbour. Approvals are being sought to build defence housing on this land.
Further along is the Stockton Centre which used to be a "mental hospital" but now provides care and accommodation for people with disabilities. The Stockton Bridge is opposite.
It was low tide exposing mangroves at this part of the river. Unfortunately some scumbags use the area to dump building waste. This striking plant is growing near these dinghies used to row out to moored boats.
This evening we went to a Kelly Brouhaha house concert. These concerts allow independent musicians to earn a reasonable fee performing at private homes. The number of guests was limited to 30 and there were strict instructions not to share details of the venue on social media. An added bonus at tonight's concert was Ron Mathews played his harmonica to support Kel in a couple of songs. Several Roadies enjoyed the concert together with friends of Janet who was our host. She had seen Kel perform at Tamworth and bravely offered the use of her home for the concert. Good on you Janet!
