The East Coast Low has been great but it probably annoyed everyone.  A rainbow late in the day and a setting sun and it was almost over after one only day.
 Below, service station odds and ends.  How much pool chemical is sold in winter?  Ice?  mowing? swap and go?

Hunter Street once again and the new bumptious presence of the University of Newcastle city campus. Or 'New'.
No gain without pain. A lane was closed all year while building was in progress now the whole street is closed.

Hunter Street as never before.  Revitalising Newcastle. Newcastle Light Rail. NSW Government.

Quite a crowd were relaxing along the foreshore 'path' this Fathers Day.  Honeysuckle Hotel was choker block and the food was worth waiting for.

Eco blog

As if beached marine life. Female and male life savers lined up to sprint to their rubber duckie, jumped aboard to join the crew, full throttle out to a set-up off-shore where they enacted a rescue, I'm guessing, then raced back to the shore.  The photo does not convey the fast pace.

  Looming on the horizon are two of the coal ships that queue for coal from the Port of Newcastle, the fossil fuel city.
 The post-coal era will come but not soon enough. Progress. Westpac Bank announced it will not finance coal developments which is greeted both with applause and with outrage.
  Current tales in Newcastle are about upheavals in preparation for the super-car races of note,   meaning certain roads works have closed the roads and residential areas are very cross at finding themselves on a speed way. The east precinct is vintage style, where high rise or modernisation is probably banned - apart from super-car events!
  A new light rail to serve the long lean main street is about to start installation.  Apartments are spring up in the western precinct and change is accelerating in inner city Newcastle.      

Walking was very popular yesterday. In Newcastle - for a change.

New life new hope in this exciting time of disruption although disruption is at arms length in this benign life of complacency that is the experience of many of us.

   On Scott Street Newcastle.
Teas and coffee. Industrial chic?  Originally many of these corners in the city were the site of a hotel.

Beer drinking is overtaken by change of old routines and by coffee drinking.                               Coffee from Timor Leste can be found sold by friends of that newest little nation to our north.  Their economy relies on oil export alone.  Their economic wealth is tiny.    In the past we witnessed their struggles and a referendum and the bullying tactics then they were done over by unfriendly neighbours with wholesale destruction of the infrastructure .       Australian policy towards ownership of off shore oil is almost as bad in cheating Timor Leste out of their oil resources.  It is our responsibility to hand over the oil developments that are within the domain of Timor and withdraw claims of ownership of the seas in question.   

The Greens and community survival

It was dangerous and it took bravery to go along to a meeting with the most disrespected disliked group in the community.  Of all things, The Greens seek to preserve the environment and our health and the Great Barrier Reef by means of more renewable energy production and by phasing out thermal coal mining.
 Senator, Dr Richard Di Natale, Leader of the Australian Greens, (at the rostrum), Senator Lee Rhiannon, MLC Jeremy Buckingham presented daring plans for more employment on coal mine remediation among other plans, during an ordered transition from coal.

 Coal is a major contributor to climate change.  As the largest coal export port, Newcastle succeeds in shipping destructive climate change to the globe.  Day and night.... day and night....

                                                 more of the same

Low tide

In Newcastle today.  Sand, surf, low tide, UV sunshine, yachts and how the PA system sounded.

Memorial Drive sweeps down to Bar beach.
  Or take the high road, a new memorial walk part of which is spanned by a high over bridge.
 The wartime silhouettes are strategically placed beside the footbridge.

 When stormy weather was subsiding last week.  Billboards and signs took a beating.
  A hugh effort still took over a week to restore all power supplies so widespread was the damage.
  I guess we are fortunate that this incident occurred before privatisation went ahead or was it a bigger effort to make sure all was ready for that day? Now there is talk of controls and cheaper electricity.  Obviously all this electricity business is not clear to me.

The calm and bird calls seem strange two days post east coast low.
Bits and pieces of vegetation are scattered all over, large tree branches and whole trees have come down throughout town which makes it difficult to restore power despite extra crews arriving from other places.
  We never lost power supply, it has been said before, there is a reason for our good luck because of some infastructure on the same line.
  Many school kids are having an extension of the holiday break as schools have not reopend.
  People have difficulty living with uncertainity. They have expectations.
Just imagine the results after a full blown cyclone.

Newcastle baths pounded by waves Friday.  The tide was receeding.

  Eye strain, stress and compulsive viewing this weekend with the Socceroo's victory and Serena W in Melbourne - a knock out with Toyota styled celebratory leaps!  The pair were in complete contrast.

    At the swimming pool the usually benign seating was submerged. Experience leads one to step back to avoid a shower. A man said he ruined his camera there in the last storm.

Sunlight and water.  Difficult to focus on  Corruption Collusion Community Exclusion when our little world is looking so darn good.

Message for Gladys, Minister for Transport.
Protest against the truncation of the rail line.  Believe that is the term used.

Continued.  Creative hot air balloon Skywhale.

If you look closely this must be the A train as it is in the AA (Australian Agricultural) mini park, on King.
  AA company managed diverse works in the colonial days. Private enterprise.  Even the district water service is becoming privatised or corporatised soon. Does that cause some unease and more unease than a distant threat from terrorism?

This is not a good look.