@travellingwiththeateam

The day started with an alfresco breakfast at The Tanks, Forster with the opportunity to look out across the Tasman Sea early morning.

The Tanks are an interesting set of rock pools where surfers congregate to pick up morning waves.

As we drove north, we decided to stop at The Beach House, Port Macquarie for a mid morning coffee stop before walking through Town Green Park and out to the Town Beach lookout.

From Port Macquarie we drove a further 1hr north to South West Rocks and found our way to Trial Bay Gaol Beach, where Michelle took the opportunity to finish her latest book.

With a few hours of sunshine and showers, we left the beach and went to look around Trial Bay Gaol.

We went back in time on our tour of Trial Bay Gaol, soaking up the history and the amazing coastal views that surround it in Arakoon National Park.

The gaol opened in 1886, after 13 years of construction. The prison labourers were there to construct a breakwater to make Trial Bay a safe harbour between Sydney and Brisbane.

During World War I the gaol became an internment camp for people of German descent who were feared to be enemy sympathisers.

After the history lesson, we walked through the Arakoon National Park and came across a number of kangaroos feasting on the grass.

Late afternoon we went for a walk to South West Rocks Headland and on to Horseshoe Bay Beach.

South West Rocks is definitely one of NSW’s best-kept secrets, a little pocket of tranquillity at the mouth of the Macleay River that boasts stunning beaches, beautiful nature trails and a well-preserved history, attracting fishermen and scuba divers from all over the world.

Tomorrow we continue our drive north as we head to Ulmarra, near Grafton. We have decided to move in land with cyclone Alfred tracking to hit the NSW coast in the next 24hrs, bringing 100 mile an hour strong winds and heavy rain.

After a great 5 days, we said goodbye to Port Stephens this morning and drove north to Myall Lake and on to the stunning Seal Rocks.

Famous for its many premier surfing beaches (including Lighthouse Beach, Treachery and Yagon), and also for being the home of Seal Rocks lighthouse, known as Sugarloaf Point Lighthouse.

Seal Rocks is well known for its peaceful resistance to attempts by developers to commercialise the small picturesque fishing village. On entering the town by the road, the slogan “Save Seal Rocks The Last Frontier” can be seen painted on the road itself, this has been continually repainted for over 30 years.

We decided to go for a hike up to The Sugarloaf lighthouse, the second-most easterly one in Australia, after Byron Bay.

After our walk to the lighthouse, we continued our journey up the coast and stopped off at Blueys Beach, which got its name from a cow that fell off of a cliff!

We continued up through the Great Lakes area, passing Wallis Lake in Wallingat National Park on the west and Booti Booti National Park on the east, the pristine waters are fed by the Wallamba River, Coolongolook River and Pipers Creek.

Our next stop was The Green Cathedral, one of the most spectacular and scenic wedding venues. The outdoor green cathedral provides a unique experience and gives a feeling of being one with nature and the surrounding rainforest.

Arriving into Forster, we dropped off our bags at The Island Palms Motor Inn, before going for a coastal walk to Cape Hawke Harbour and then on to Forster Main Beach, Pebbly Beach and on to Bennett’s Head Lookout.

The viewing platform sits out above the rocky headlands giving visitors views south towards The Tanks, Pebbly Beach and the Forster Tuncurry breakwalls.

We were advised that Bennetts Head Lookout is one of the best vantage points to spot whales during their migration between May and November.

After picking up dinner at Woolworths we caught up with MAFS Australia and planned our movements for tomorrow, with breakfast at The Tanks looking out across into Tasman Sea. From there we have a 2hr drive up the coast to South West Rocks where we plan to spend a day or two.

We spent this morning down on Box Beach. Framed by scenic conical headlands, sandy Box Beach is a popular surf spot for Nelson Bay locals.

Andy went body surfing whilst Michelle continued her marathon book reading. We spent a couple of hours of R&R until early afternoon, before we dropped in on Shoal Bay Country Club for pizza and salad and to enjoy the dream like views over the Bay.

The food and wine festival started at 3pm and we were soon entertained by a soul and funk group called Sneaky Freakers on the main stage.

We had a glorious time – the music, the food, the beer and a spot of people watching in the sunshine.

It was great to see people having fun and embracing the local foods as well as wines, beers and spirits from distilleries in the Port Stephens region.

We spent 4hrs+ watching various acts on the main stage, with covers from Blondie, Michael Jackson and ABBA.

By the time we left the dance floor (main road) was busy with inebriated revellers who’d consumed their body weight in vino.

Tomorrow we are heading back north with a trip to Forster, via Seal Rocks & Bluesy Beach and on to Wallingat National Park.

Another wonderful day in the sunshine of Port Stephens. We started the morning with a visit to the sand dunes of Stockton Beach. We experienced the thrill of surfing down some of the largest sand dunes as we joined an exciting 4WD adventure up large dunes with sandboarding fun.

With the temperature predicted to top 33 Celsius, we booked a 9.30am slot to do some sandboarding. The drive out through the sand dunes brought us up close to an incredible landscape.

The dunes stretch 32 kilometers, the entire length of Stockton Beach, and can reach over 40 metres high, the same as a 10 storey building, providing views that were spectacular.

Once we were dropped off by the 4WD we got straight into boarding and set off down the sand dunes. It was a thrilling experience and we got some great action photos!

Our time in the sand dune desert was completed by coming across camels who were about to go out on a tour. We got up close and they kindly stared into the camera…

After a wonderful morning in the sand dunes, we shook off the sand with a dip on Birubi beach before moving to our new favourite spot at Shoal Bay where we grabbed brunch at Shoal Bay Country Club.

After lunch we caught a few rays before a long beach walk out to Tomaree Head.

After a few hours on the beach at Shoal Bay, we decided to head out to Murray’s craft brewery. The onsite brewery, distillery, winery cellar door and a range of dining experiences, along with beautiful gardens made it a great spot, sadly when we arrived at 4.15pm, the bar had closed 15mins before….

Given the lack of alcohol at Murray’s we decided to return to The Anchorage where we knew happy hour was in play and we could get comfortable in Moby’s Bar. It was a beautiful sunny evening so we grabbed a couple of photos out in the marina before we stepped inside the Hamptons inspired setting.

After drinks at The Anchorage, we made our way to Nelson Marina and a visit to NSW best fish and chips at Bub’s where we picked up some calamari to boot. With the views out over the marina it was a great place to eat and enjoy the early evening before sunset.

We’ve had a wonderful day and thoroughly enjoyed our dinner treat at Bub’s and finished the evening with a great bottle of rose to toast a fantastic day.

Tomorrow we are off to Shoal Bay food and wine festival.

A wonderful day in the glorious sunshine and made even better by our cruise around Port Stephens searching out bottlenose dolphins.

We had picked the top deck of our catamaran and got comfortable ready for a few hours on the water and some dolphin spotting.

There are almost 100 resident Bottlenose Dolphins that live in the Bay at Port Stephens. 

We spent the first 30mins cruising around the Eastern harbour of Port Stephens, with views of the spectacular Tomaree & Yacaaba headlands. After finding a pod of dolphins we followed them for the next 45mins as they fed on the abundance of fish in the bay.

This cruise offered an exceptional opportunity to witness the playful and intelligent nature of the resident bottle nose dolphins. Additionally, guests can enjoy the thrill boom netting ride. Throughout the cruise, knowledgeable and entertaining commentary was provided, enhancing the overall cruise experience.

The cruise lasted a couple of hours and after that we headed to nearby Nelson Bay Beach to chill and have a bite to eat. From there we went back to the marina and came across a flock of pelicans waiting patiently for fish scraps to come theirs way.

Amusingly the boat yard had a huge catamaran in dry dock with the name Long Time Dead – seemed quite fitting.

After another relaxing afternoon on the beach close to the marina, we decided to take a drive out to Fingal Bay where we were the only ones there – even the lifeguards had left for the day!

Tomorrow we have booked to go on a 4WD tour of the magnificent Stockton Sand Dunes – the largest moving sand dunes in the Southern Hemisphere. This includes Sand-boarding Safari right in the heart of the dunes.

We’ve had a busy day, touring around the various sights and sounds in and around Port Stephens.

With another blue sky day in front of us, we decided to first visit Zenith Beach, located in Tomaree National Park. It’s a picturesque and serene coastal haven, with rugged headlands and pristine surroundings offering tranquillity and natural beauty.

From there we headed down the coastline to Fingal Beach.

It’s a glorious white sandy beach tucked under Fingal Head. This family-friendly, patrolled surf beach was perfect to catch a wave. We spent an hour just relaxing and dipping in and out of the ocean.

After the beaches we went down to Nelson Bay marina to book a dolphin cruise around the bay, which we are doing tomorrow morning for a couple of hours.

d’Albora Marina Nelson Bay is the hub of Nelson Bay with specialty stores and waterfront dining and is the gateway to cruising around St Stephen’s Bay.

The marina offered up local food and wine, fish feeding and so much more, however rather than eating at Bub’s Famous fish & chips, we wanted to return to The Anchorage Hotel for lunch, where we stayed in Dec 2019 when last in the area.

We had an enjoyable pizza and drinks at the fabulous Anchorage Marina, with great views out over the bay.

We couldn’t help ourselves and were keen to have a wander around the luxury hotel and Michelle relaxed in the lounge area where we last sat some 5yrs or so ago. So glad we got the opportunity to return and revisit the beautiful hotel.

After lunch, we went on to the Gan Gan Lookout and the spectacular views of beautiful Port Stephens and beyond, one of the highest points in the area.

Towards the end of the day we visited our last beach of the day, Birubi Beach is located on the Northern end of the Stockton Sand Dunes, the largest moving dunes in the Southern Hemisphere. If you’re ever in the Port Stephens area, you should definitely check it out.

We plan to return and try sand surfing as it’s such a lovely location. Today we just wandered along the beach and caught the last of the day’s glorious sunshine.

Tomorrow we are back on the water to go and check out the 100 resident Bottlenose Dolphins that live in the Bay at Port Stephens.

It was goodbye to Nambucca Heads and to our wonderful apartment view this morning.

After Andy’s 10km ritual run and breakfast, we packed our belongings and started the 3.5hr journey south down the Pacific Highway to Port Stephens, our most southern stop in NSW where we plan to rest up for a few days.

The journey passed relatively quickly with the aid of more Louis Theroux podcasts and countless conversations about the places we’ve visited over the last 18mths and where we’d go back to on our next adventure.

Arriving into Port Stephens brought on a spot of de ja vu, as we recounted our last visit here just prior to Xmas 2019. We headed to Shoal Bay and a walk around Tomaree Head out to the WWII Torpedo Emplacement.

On the way we magically got to see a small pod of dolphins who inhabit the bay year round.

The walk along the trailhead brought some wonderful views across the bay and more dolphins although our ability to capture them on camera evaded us.

Post a spot of beach time, we dropped in at the SBCC where we last had dinner on the 22nd Dec 2019, a very hot and humid affair which brought back happy memories of family time with Amelia.

After several days without a meal out, we decided to treat ourselves to dinner at the Nelson Bay Diggers Club. What a feast, Michelle returned to her favourite lamb roast and Andy to fish & chips!!

Having eaten well, we kept with the treating and decided to go to the cinema to watch the latest Bridget Jones movie. We can’t recall the last time we went to the pictures, but it must be almost 2yrs ago. As it turned out the film was great, nostalgic, funny, sad, magical and heartfelt.

We’ve had a really fun day, and continually feel happy and part of this wonderful country that is Australia. Over the years we often talked about moving out here, but there was always a reason not to, perhaps most importantly we had too good a life back in the UK.

Who knows what the future might bring, but we’ve loved our two lots of 3mths travelling around Oz. We will be back we are sure of that.

Anyway we’ve still got 3 weeks or thereabouts and intend to enjoy every last minute. Tomorrow we plan to hit the beach and explore Port Stephens and pay a visit to our favourite hotel, the Anchorage for dinner and drinks.

Another day of blue skies, so after Andy’s daily run around the streets and hills of Nambucca Heads, we made our way to Rotary Lookout to take in the views across the Nambucca River and down the coast to Forster Beach.

Having been up relatively early, we had finished breakfast and found ourselves down on the beach by 9am – we are definitely turning into Aussies with these early starts!

It’s fair to say that Nambucca Heads is blessed with some beautiful scenery and the most awe inspiring sandbanks and turquoise water. It’s truly a perfect place for exploring and enjoying the great outdoors.

We soon got settled on Shelly Beach and with new books to read, we were both engrossed, looking up as and when to marvel at the wonderful sandy beach which being as it was a Monday we had mostly to ourselves. The joy of not having to be anywhere….

Michelle is keeping up with a daily read quota enabling her to finish a book every 3 or 4 days. It’s fair to say she’s hooked and loving getting into books again after years of not having the time due to work.

After a couple of hours, we decided to take a walk along Shelly Beach and after a mile or so found ourselves at the Main Beach and The Alofa Sands Surf Club.

We spent most of the morning at Shelly Beach before dropping in on the Captain Cook Lookout where we could enjoy the vistas across the river and up the coast to Beilbys Beach and Hyland Park beyond.

The water and white sand are such a great combination and make the place feel like a desert island.

Mid afternoon we decided to take a drive south to Scott’s Head, 30mins away which was equally beautiful and sits at the far end of Forster Beach, an uninterrupted 16 mile outcrop of sand along this stunning coastline.

We spent a couple of hours at Scott’s Head with a few of the locals on the beach, before walking a section of Forster Beach and immersing ourselves in the stunning beauty that this part of the NSW countryside has to offer.

Returning late afternoon to Nambucca Heads it was still hot and sunny so we went for a cooling coastal walk out along the V Wall. Over the years many visitors have painted their holiday messages, inspirational words, and memories on the rocks at the V-Wall Nambucca Heads. 

This creative space provides a great read with comments from locals as well as visitors from around Australia and across the globe.

Tomorrow we are back in the car for a 3.5hr drive south to Port Stephens where we plan to stay for a few days and have as a base. The intention is to explore Port Stephens, Nelson Bay and north to Forster and the Lakes of Myall and Wallis.

Final morning in Bangalow, which meant one last 10km run along the streets of the town & the local cricket ground.

It’s was then time to pack and jump in the car and start our 3hr drive south to Nambucca Heads. This is the longest road trip we’ve done for a while so we had chance to get into a couple of podcasts with Sharon Horgan & Sanjeev Bhaskar and Louis Theroux.

After a 90min drive we decided to stop for lunch at Yamba, where we came across a River market selling ‘everything and anything’.

We had a wander around the stalls, but given the intense heat and a need for a bite to eat we found our way to Pinewood Corner, for a savoury scone and a good coffee.

After an enjoyable lunch, we had a wander along Coldstream Street, the main shopping area. After a short walk, we got in the car and drove down to Convent Beach.

It was a stunning afternoon of sunshine and we soon got comfortable on the grass before cooling off in the ocean.

After a spot of body surfing we cooled off on the grass before getting back in the car for the final 100 mile drive.

We arrived mid-afternoon at The Beach Rooms, a funky motel that looks out over the Nambucca River.

The name Nambucca comes from an aboriginal word, ngambugka, variously translated as “winding or crooked river”.

Nambucca Heads has one of the oldest surf lifesaving clubs in Australia and also invented junior surf lifesaving known as Nippers.

With a few hours before dinner, we went for a wander along the water front, first to Wellington Beach and then on to Shelly Beach. It was a wonderful couple of hours looking out over the sandbanks and glorious turquoise waters.

We plan to spend a couple of days in this beautiful part of the coast and explore all that Nambucca Heads has to offer. As the week progresses we intend to make our final drive south to Port Stephens, before we make a relaxed return north to Brisbane on the 10th May.

Another lovely day in NSW, looking forward to more time in the sunshine tomorrow and walking the V wall and on to Rotary Lookout, the various beaches, Foreshore walk and Nambucca River.

Possibly our most chilled day on our tour to date.

We woke to the most amazing views looking out across a rainforest as well as a lemon myrtle and macadamia plantation. So stunning and incredibly quiet & serene.

After Andy had been out for his daily 10km jog around the town, we breakfasted out on the verandah in the morning sunshine. It really doesn’t get much better than this…

Being a Saturday, we found a farmers market in the centre of Bangalow and went to explore and mix with the locals.

The market was awash with local produce as well as a rock band playing tunes for the young and old.

We got close to buying various foods, but in truth buying a leg of lamb didn’t seem a good idea with a 3.5hr drive tomorrow.

Real food and real farmers, what a great strap line. It was wonderful to spend time exploring the market and then move on to a great coffee stop just off the Main Street.

This is such a bohemian place, with bare footed people wandering around the streets feasting on avocado sourdough toasties and drinking flat white coffee.

After a morning in town, we returned to our stunning guest house on the hill and settled down next to the pool and embraced the scenic views.

We proceeded to enjoy our house on the hill having the place almost to ourselves for the afternoon.

Tonight we changed into our weekend attire and toasted the end of the day with a glass of vino before settling into another dinner courtesy of Foodworks.

After dinner and before dark we went for a wander around the 99 acre estate in search of local wildlife.

Tomorrow we are back on the road and have a long drive south on the Pacific Highway to Nambucca Heads, where we plan to spend a couple of days back on the beach staying in The Beach Rooms.