On second last day of our holiday, we drove to Nelson Bay from Coffs harbour. Unfortunately, the drive took a while as there was a traffic jam so reached Port Stephens only after 6pm.
Port Stephens lies within the Port Stephens-Great Lakes Marine Park and is situated about 160 kilometres (99 mi) north-east of Sydney. It’s known for its nature and abundance of aquatic marine life and land activities on its uncrowded sandy beaches, sheltered bays and unspoilt national parks.
Our accommodation at the heart of port Stephens being Nelson Bay offers gourmet restaurants, boutique shopping as well as being the Dolphin Capital which is well known as one of the best places in the world to see dolphins “in the wild”.
As everything was nearby, we decided to go for a walk after dinner. We ended up eating in an Asian joint and then went for a walk around the bay. There were so many people even at that time of the evening and there were kids everywhere.
After dinner, we came back to the hotel and rested well for our adventure next day. The first thing we did next morning after breakfast was to go for a hike in Tomaree head National Park.
Tomaree Head in Shoal Bay Port Stephens is a small mountain headland that guards the south entrance to Port Stephens Nelson Bay.
At the start of the trail at the east end of Shoal Bay Road there is a picture of the trial. The place is great to walk and there were lots of people going there for their morning walk.
It was once again a beautiful day so we were ready to start our adventures. The trial was well maintained and it was curvy so the walking is not too steep. We kept walking for few minutes until we reached the picnic area.
Much of the lower sections of the trail were stair-free ramps so it was easy. But instead of taking the well paved path, we decided to take a rough natural trail. We kept on walking until we reached to the end of the hill and there were nowhere to go. So we have to come back the same way for another 10 minutes until we found the trial that led upstairs. The top half or so of the walk is metal walkways and stair cases making the hike easier.
By the time we reached the first look out all of us were tired but were rewarded with a great view of Zenith Beach, Wreck Beach and Box Beach.
We rested on the top for a while and everyone was busy on our mobile phone. I love this photo as it is what modern day socialising looks like 🙂
After a while we descended and went back to the car to our next stop, sand dunes. Only in Australia, have I seen a landscape which has 32 kilometre long beach and mobile sand dunes which climb up to 40 metres high next to it. Located only 10 minutes from the centre of Nelson Bay, it is the largest sand dune system in Australia.
Originally we planned to either do some camel ride or horse ride there but we changed our plan and went on our own to the sand dunes. We parked the car and started walking towards the sand.
After few minutes’ walk it felt like we were in a different part of the world surrounded by all that sand.
We couldn’t see anyone but the four of us but there were lots of footsteps of people on the sand. It was just amazing to be there and felt great.
We took some really nice shots. after a while we all felt very hot so decided to return to the car. As the car was in the sun for a while as well, we had to open the windows for a while before we could get inside and drive.
Everyone was hungry by then so we decided to stop over for the lunch.
As we were far from Nelson Bay we decided to look for food in Anna Bay. Mostly there were just fish and chips places but luckily we went to Anna Bay Traven. It looked like a pub where there were lots of men drinking but inside they had a big backyard for people to sit down and eat. We ordered prawn and chilli pasta; prawn pizza and fried calamari and all of them were very tasty. All the ingredients felt so fresh that we were glad we stumbled on that place.
After lunch we went to the beach and swam for a while.
Here again the beaches were just beautiful with sallow ends so you can go quite far into the sea and still the water comes up only to your waist. And as the wave came; it was great to chase it.
After a while, it was time for us to return to Sydney.
Back in the car and we drove back to Sydney. We all had a great holiday and I am glad AS enjoyed the visit as well. The Port Stephens region, with its breathtaking natural beauty, was the perfect ending to our memorable holiday experience.
Take care everyone, till the next post
XOXO
M from nepaliaustralian
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