Weekend in Newcastle

What a tiring weekend. 3 cars went up - I was followed by Karin and Tom from Austria as they were starting their holiday around Australia. The 3rd car had Fiona, Pieta and Michelle. Our mission? To have a grand night out to see Pony Up (Montreal, Canada) and Starky (Australian) play. Did it happen? NO! It bloody well didn't! Why? The manager of the Northern Star Hotel on Beaumont St Hamilton (fat, slobby, unprofessional, brown hair in an outgrown faux hawk, pin dick (I'm basing this on his intelligence)) is a complete cockhead. We were a group of 9 people, the youngest being 23. 4 of our group were from Austria. The security guards took it upon their discretion to refuse Thomas' entry as they didn't recognise his Austrian drivers license as being Authentic. They actually told us he needed a NSW drivers licence or proof of age card to be permitted entry. WHAT!!!!!! It was his BIRTHDAY to top things off. No amount of reason or logic sufficed with this idiot. He was too busy stuffing his face with food and speaking to us with his mouth full to listen to us. I would like to argue that if Pony Up had been carded, they too would not have been granted entry to their own gig. They look pretty young, and I would be very surprised if they carried their passports with them. I guess the security guards at the Northern Star in Hamilton are pretty up to date with each countries passports (in terms of their authenticity) as opposed to drivers licenses. How silly of us!


So anyway, I guess I'm saying, if you're thinking of seeing some quality music performed live in Newcastle - in particular the Northern Star Hotel in Beaumont St Hamilton, make sure you're all white, born and bred Australians with a NSW drivers licence. Preferably residing in the Newcastle region - as outsiders are pretty much not welcome and you cannot guaranteee that they will deem your ID 'real or fake'.

Apart from that - and being refused a table at the Northern Star Italian Restaurant a few doors down because we were a group of 9 and their maximum is 8 - a larger group like ours is an OHS risk apparently, we managed to recover our miserable introduction to Newcastle and bought some wine (we weren't asked for ID) and headed back to Valentine to chill out for the rest of the night. HAPPY BIRTHDAY THOMAS!

I'd just like to point out that we were not drunk or intoxicated in any way. We'd driven up from Sydney around lunch time, did some sightseeing and headed to the beach before going to Hamilton to enjoy our night out.

Yesterday (Sunday) we had a nice day up in Nelson Bay/Tea Gardens. It was sooo hot (flet at least 35) and we didn't have much time to hang around, but we got a glimpse of some dolphins from the ferry and had a pretty lazy day. I'm exhausted from all the driving though. Hoping to recover today.

No photos. Paul has the camera and he is in Kyiv, Ukraine. Back tomorrow. Looking forward to hearing about the trip and seeing some photos (if he remembered to take any...)