Well, Happy Thanksgiving to you all.
I had a wondrously disastrous start to the day. Firstly; I forgot my wallet and remembered it just as I was about to sit down for breakfast. Secondly; I was heading down to the Newcastle Island ferry and decided to get a picture of The Bastion (a lookout tower built to overlook the harbour and protect the original colonists from invasion) only to find my camera batteries were flat!
Anyway, after two false starts I managed to get the ferry over to Newcastle Island.
This will be another short entry as I will not bore anyone reading this, nor myself, with a detailed description of a lovely four hour walk around the island’s perimeter (7.5 Km according to the guide maps) and a venture to the lake in the centre of it. One point worthy of its own mention was the sight of two Bald Eagles sitting in a tree about 30 metres up to be precise. I did manage to get a couple of photos of them before they took flight – of their own accord I hasten to add – and even from my “short-arse high” vantage point I could appreciate just how huge their wingspans were. It was a truly impressive sight.
The island is a lovely place where one can find oneself alone with only the call of sea birds or complete silence. If you like woodland walks, I highly recommend it. On parts of the coastline path one can get the scent of pine and the salt/brine smell of the sea all in the same breath – it was a strange combination.
After circumnavigating the island (this one isn’t bigger than Belgium) and seeing the mine ventilation shaft (they used to mine coal here) and the sandstone quarry (the Zephyr sank in a snowstorm carrying sandstone from here to be used in the Washington Mint building) and the Pulp Stone cutting pit (Pulp Stones were large 1500 tonne stone wheels cut out of limestone and used in the paper mills across North America. Apparently the ones from Newcastle Island were very high quality.) I thought I’d earned a coffee, so I got one.
The last ferry from the island was due to go at 17:10 and it was approaching 16:30, so I headed down to the jetty.
Having got back to the mainland I had a lovely leisurely walk along the harbour front before coming back to the hostel.
I sorted out all my bits for tomorrow and got my bags packed as far as I could – last minute things go in tomorrow. I have my alarm set for 6:00 and fortunately Andrew is working tomorrow and gets up at 6:00 anyway – so if my alarm doesn’t go off I’ve asked him to give me a shout. As we have the dorm to ourselves tonight we won’t be disturbing anyone in the morning.
I will get this posted now as I don’t know when I will have Internet access again – probably not until Friday at least.
The journey to the frozen wastes of the north begins tomorrow. I must be mad!
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