Newcastle Live Sites

Every year we go to the Winter Heat Festival in Newcastle and every year we bump into Ben and his kids, and Clare and Ross. 

Goes to show there are a loyal band of followers of this mid winter event and that the energy of flames always draws people in.

This year, the event was alongside the Honeysuckle precinct and there was a definite gourmet edge to the stalls - we missed the little pancakes on a skewer - and trying to get a cool non-alcoholic drink was simply not possible. 

That said there was a stunning parade of bamboo and tissue paper marine creatures - held aloft by a dozens of primary school children.

Is worth visiting every year and we were very grateful for the lady handing out free glowsticks. 

Also, on asking a man where he bought the flashing halo head piece, he said there weren't any left, and then gave us his! 

So we were once again impressed with the good nature of the people of Newcastle.

A Birthday Party

The girls had their joint birthday party at the railway sheds at Newcastle Foreshore.  A lovely morning shared with some friends and family and here we'll share some pics with you.

Funny story - my wife baked the two birthday cakes the day before and as is the process we had bought some of the ingredients from the local shop, which I argue is supporting local business instead of getting everything from the major supermarkets.  But the butter was two months out of date.  And the cakes tasted terrible.

So we had to start again and they turned out just fine, as you can see.  Our friend rates herself as a face painter and we agree it makes for a great experience for the kids.  Her offers of face painting ranged from fairies to spiderman.  A lovely sunny day.