Stockton revisted

After a few hectic weeks, it was time for the girls and I to hit the road in our trusty van for a bit of us-time!

Location, availability, location, availability… most pawbaby-friendly campsites 2-3 hours from Sydney were fully booked. Curious as to why, I asked one owner why and he replied, “Arrgghh, the grey nomads darling! They are everywhere!’ It is a good sign that people are out and about again, I thought to myself, especially after the uncertainty of the last 2 to 3 years. Covid has been an agent of chaos for sure.

I was very impressed with our short visit to Newcastle and Stockton last year, when we sketched plenty and had a great time. We eventually got lucky and were able to set up camp again at Stockton, or Burrinbingon as the local Worimi Aborigines call it.

On the last stay, I discovered the tugboats and cargo ships.
I chased them up and down the 2km long Shipwreck Walk breakwater.
Little changed this time: I still ran up and down the walk, absolutely enthralled with them. I adore these workhorse tug boats escorting the incoming and outgoing big cargo ships, gracefully leaving a white trail of flashing wave behind them.

I sat, observed and sketched them at all hours. I have an urge to make bigger contre-jour paintings of these boats. The fishermen along the stone walls make good paintings too, not forgetting the iconic Nobbys Head and the lighthouse. So watch this space…

Nobbys Head at the entrance to Newcastle Harbour started out as an island. It was “Whibayganba” (the home of a giant kangaroo) in the local Aboriginal Awabakal language.

Stockton is a charming seaside town with friendly locals and plenty of sketching subjects. One that particularly stood out for me is this beautifully restored gleaming White House on the corner of Mitchell and King St. I did a quickie pen sketch one afternoon. I find it challenging to sketch a white building and when I came back for a second go, I picked this corner to capture the magic play of light and shadow. Many locals stopped, chatted and commented on this beauty, including Justin the owner. He told the story of how they acquired the house and the work done to make this a beautiful family home. He’s an architect and has a great passion for restoration. The turret was a new addition and totally made it fairly-tale-ish to sketch.

On the day it was forecast to be super hot, I headed out early around 7 am to sketch the rock formations at the tip of the walk. Within half an hour, my exposed skin was suffering from a possible 2nd degree burn. I gave in, packed up and left. I went there again in the late evening to continue. Within minutes I realised I was going to be eaten alive by Newcastle's infamous mozzies: the ‘Hexham grey’! Ouch, ouch, ouch! Suffer to make great art, they say. No way, I gave in again for the second time that day!

But I know we’ll be going back to this amazing place soon.