After an hour or so at Nobbys this morning we checked the coffee from The Empire Coffee Co with a couple of take-aways and found that the beans from Dropbear Coffee Roasters certainly led to a nice cup of coffee. Time for a few hours going ‘old school’ and reading the actual paper papers spread out on the deck!
Last night and today have been busy ones for community events in Newcastle. Last night, in Civic Park, the Christmas lights were ceremoniously switched on and then today the park was overtaken for the Olive Tree Markets.
We decided to wait until a bit later in the day and took advantage of the Throsby Cycleway to cycle down to Pacific Park to check out Sunset Gather. While it was awesome to be cycling on such a lovely afternoon, the usual summer Nor-Easter made it a bit of a push into the headwind in some places.
As always, we’re reminded of the great access that the Throsby Cycleway gives us to the harbour and the beach and the city. The ‘missing link’ along the Throsby Wharf completes it as one of the nicest bicycle paths we’ve ridden in many cities here and internationally. Walkers are generally courteous and considerate provided that a polite ring of the bell lets them know that you’re passing.
Inaugural Sunset Gather Markets 5 Dec 2015
We cycle up past the Customs House and chain up our bikes in Pacific Street itself, just near the Food Trucks and pop up kitchens turning out all sorts of interesting fare. Was good to see food trucks themselves; reminiscent of Portland, Oregon. It’s so exciting to see people like Alice from Uprising Bakery partner with the Cheese Mongrel to produce a tasty treat of bread topped with cheese scraped molten from the face of a half cheese round heating on an improvised rotating cheese heater. Nearby, Doughheads continued to sell, along with a number of other local vendors.
We also dropped in to see our friends at Mim Concepts and marvelled at the resurgence in macrame and the number of ideas for gifts.
VanderAa onstage at Sunset Gather Markets
Then, it was into the natural ‘amphitheatre,’ under the roots of the huge fig, to chill out to the guitar, vocal, percussion box and beat-box vocals of VanderAa: two very cool guys who have some very nice groove based originals happening and then pulled off a great cover of a Chet Faker song.
Chilling in the afternoon sun
As the sun slid slowly to the west, a new, hopeful generation of proud Novocastrians chilled and enjoyed the vibe: I know we did!
Holly Who then took the stage, with Holly on vocals and a 5 piece band. The crowd swelled and there seemed to be a very relaxed atmosphere amongst the variety of people gathered on the grass and under the trees.
And then; cyling home up the harbour and creek with the wind at our backs was a magnificent way to say farewell to the day as the dark of night rolled over.
Somewhere close, we can hear the sound of fireworks and the sounds of Saturday night partying. Not a bad day at all really.