The Jetstar flight from Melbourne to Newcastle was pretty standard and I was starkly reminded of how cramped their seats are. Cheap though, so I shouldn’t complain. I got some awesome air shots on the flight with the curvature of the earth appearing visible but the skeptic in me suspects the camera lens. My iRiver was useful in blocking out the token screaming baby.

The 2 hour drive from Newcastle to Forster was interesting for the bits when I was awake. I immediately noticed how green everything was. You get that when you’re in the 7% of New South Wales that isn’t declared a drought disaster area. From the air the drought was quite obvious if not alarming.

Mum and I walked along the beach lots and I got some cool photos using beach mode on my camera. We played scrabble a couple of times, but I was defeated. I made up for it with victory in 500 though. We visited some old friends of Mum’s who also live in Forster. The Cape Hawk lookout was amazing, and very windy. I took this panorama that I stitched together from five photos. Shame it was quite hazy though so the photos are a bit washed out. We watched a lot of DVDs and saw Blood Diamond at the cinema. Walked to the northern end of One Mile Beach and examined the local sea life. Took photos of some random stuff, trying to be creative. We ate fish and chips in Tuncurry with the company of this little guy and these guys.

The weather up there basically defines the word temperate. Slightly more humid than I’m used to though but not unpleasant. Temperatures ranged from 9.5 to 27 with a few drops of rain here and there. Stingers came in on the north east winds (apparently) which noticeably reduced the beach population.

The flight back to Melbourne was boring and I was exhausted but seeing the carpet of smoke from the bushfires was interesting. The drive back home from Melb was tiring but I did get some of my better abstract long exposure shots.

Forster Photo set is here.