Winter!

Hard to believe, but we are still in winter. Todays blip comes from the city of Newcastle. The state of New South Wales where the colonisation of Australia started has four substantial ports. Sydney harbour is well known, but just south of the port is Port Botany which was originally named as Botany Bay when Captain Cook first discovered Australia. One hundred kilometres north of Sydney is the working port of Newcastle and about 50 kilometres north of Newcastle is Port Stephens. Although Port Stephens is mainly a recreational port, it's water area is equivalent to Sydney Harbour. Todays blip shows a view of the city side of Newcastle Harbour, despite the tranquil view, this a working harbour. Newcastle exports more coal than any other port in the world. On Sunday evening the the port will receive two 700 ton coal loaders to replace existing units. The second shot for the day was taken from where Di and I had lunch, looking north to Port Stephens. To the left of the shot is the headland and Nobby's Lighthouse giving guidance to the port of Newcastle. On the right of the lighthouse and the opposite side of the harbour entrance is a 20 km stretch of beach that finishes just short of Port Stephens. I know, blue sky again and the temp was 22 degC and the seafood lunch was delicious.